Basic journalism

Our basics section provides foundational knowledge for journalists starting their careers and for those wanting to refresh their skills. Learn techniques including news writing, interviewing, story structure, and reporting practices that form the bedrock of quality journalism. All our material is free to download, adapt and use. Scroll down our site map for all the content in this and other sections.

Mobile journalism training Harare, Zimbabwe. Image shared via Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0

Citizen reporting to citizen journalism

How young citizen reporters in Zimbabwe learnt how to move beyond basic storytelling to produce journalism that truly informs the public debate.
Radio production training in Jaffna, Sri Lanka by David Brewer shared via Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0

Creating broadcast news packages

Discover how to create concise, compelling TV and radio packages that capture audience attention and deliver key information effectively.
In journalism, good writing is plain writing - graphic for MHM training resource

In journalism, good writing is plain writing

The purpose of news writing is to convey meaning clearly and effortlessly by using precise, comprehensible, and easily digestible words.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Using the right words

Words are the essential tools of journalism. They convey meaning and help the audience understand the issues we are covering. So they need to be used properly.
Image by WP Paarz released via Creative Commons CC BY-SA 2.0

Court reporting for beginners

Learn essential court reporting tips for beginners, covering legal constraints, accuracy, and how to report trial verdicts fairly and professionally.
Image of journalists at a Fojo Media Institute training session

What is news?

What is news? Beyond facts, it’s the stories that truly matter to people. Explore why human interest and personal relevance are at the heart of every headline.
Image to illustrate an off-the-record briefing created by Gemini AI

Interviewing ‘off the record’

Journalists’ sources sometimes agree to talk only off the record.  Here we examine what that means and how to handle it when sources place...
Graphic for a Media Helping Media Training Tool

Tool: MHM Story Builder

The Media Helping Media’s Story Builder is a simple tool created to help those who are new to journalism write informative news articles.
Image by Rafael Anderson Gonzales Mendoza released via Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Journalism and the public interest

All news stories should, by definition, be interesting. They should immediately capture the attention and make the audience want to know more.
Image by PDPics from Pixabay

Grammar for journalists

Journalists need to observe important grammatical rules when writing news stories and avoid common mistakes that could confuse the audience.
Image by Cathy released via Creative Commons BY-NC 2.0

Fact-checking and adding context

Journalism is about far more than gathering information then passing it on. An essential part is to examine everything we discover to make sure it's factual.
Pitching a News Story - A MHM training article graphic

Pitching a news story to an editor

Every great piece of journalism starts with a pitch — and how you pitch can make the difference between being published or being rejected.
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