Basics
For those starting off in a career in journalism, including what makes news, how to write a story, interviewing tips, and fact-checking.
Parliamentary reporting tips for beginners
To cover parliament, a journalist needs to know local laws, understand parliamentary procedure, know about the politicians and the political parties involved, and have a solid knowledge of history.
How to improve your journalistic productivity
If you turn up for the daily news meeting without a story idea, you're in the wrong job. A journalist should be living and breathing stories 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year.
How to produce strong news stories
Good stories about any topic generally have some things in common. Here are 12 points to keep in mind when you are planning, researching and producing a news story.
Language and style – the basics
This training module from The News Manual looks at language and style in news writing. It offers guidance on how to write sentences for maximum understanding, and examines why care over language is important.
Journalists and bloggers – stop stealing pictures
Copying images from the web and using them to illustrate news articles without permission is a global problem. Some think it's okay to use images without permission; it isn't and there's a better way.
Language and style – words
In this module on language and style from The News Manual, we look at the words you use to tell your story. We see how important spelling is and how to avoid causing confusion with the words you choose.
Language and style – translation
In this module from The News Manual we look at the issue of reporting and writing across different languages, some of the challenges of translation and some of the main dangers to look out for.
News sources, numbers and the ‘so what’ factor
Journalists covering news should always be considering what might happen next and thinking through the consequences of the events they are reporting on.
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Managing people and setting objectives
For most staff, personal objectives are the most important, but they also need to know about the wider objectives. It is the line manager's responsibility to set personal objectives to help employees contribute fully.
Returning ‘favours’ – scenario
In this scenario you are a parliamentary reporter being put under pressure to cover a story by a politician who says they did you a favour in the past.