Introduction to journalism

• Different facets of today’s journalism

• How journalism is changing

Research

• The internet as a research tool

• Traditional sources for journalists

• What makes news and how to find it

News reporting

• The difference between news and feature writing

• The essentials of news reporting

• Researching news subjects

• Writing a good news story

• Working to journalism deadlines

• News desk organisation

Feature writing

• What makes a good feature?

• Understanding your audience

• Finding subjects for features

• Structuring your feature

• Writing excellent introductions

• Developing a feature

• Selling your feature

• Rewriting for different audiences

Interviewing

• Preparing for an interview

• Choosing who to interview

• Face-to-face interviews

• Telephone interviews

• Interview techniques

• The difficult interview

• Extracting information

• Spotting hidden agendas

• The press conference

Sub-editing

• How to sub your work

• On-screen subbing

• Writing headlines

• Effective use of quotes

Writing for a digital audience

• The difference between print and online reading habits

• Writing for readers who skim

• Making your copy searchable

• Embedding multimedia content in your features

Ethics and legal issues

• A guide to the basics of media law

Questions and answers