Introduction to Journalism with The Journalism School – course programme
Our six-week Introduction to Journalism course covers news and feature writing, reviews, interview skills, media law and online journalism.
The sessions will usually be split into a presentation and discussion followed by a practical exercise.
Articles of a suitable standard will be published in the Hackney Citizen.
Course programme
1: News writing
What is news? How to find it and then write it.
We investigate where news comes from, how it is collected and how stories are written, including the content, structure and style of hard news writing. It will also consider issues of objectivity, balance and accuracy.
2: Feature writing
What is the difference between hard news and feature writing?
We consider the various types of feature writing – profiles, analysis pieces, backgrounders etc – and how longer pieces are constructed, including the use of colour. We also look at how to write to a set brief.
3: Reviews
We look at the creation of review pieces from plays, films, books etc and how they differ from other writing styles. We consider how to prepare, and consider what it meant by a subjective approach to writing.
4: Interview skills
We examine the particular skills needed to secure and then conduct successful interviews, either face-to-face or by phone. It will look at preparation, equipment, how to build a list of questions and differences between the hard and soft interview techniques.
5: Media law
We consider the key legal issues journalists need to be aware of – specifically defamation and libel, privacy, freedom of information and the courts.
6: Online journalism
We examine the specifics of online journalism – websites, blogs, twitter etc – and look at the way writing for such outlets differs from other writing, including the need to consider search engines, links etc.
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More information:
Introduction to Journalism – course dates and how to book