News Reporting Course

Lesson 1 • Core Journalistic Ethics

Covers accuracy, fairness, independence, and minimizing harm as foundational ethical pillars. Students recognize ethical dilemmas in common reporting scenarios.

Lesson 2 • The News Reporting Workflow

Maps the full lifecycle of a news story from tip to publication. Provides a practical framework students will refine throughout the course.

Lesson 3 • Newsworthiness and Story Selection

Introduces the criteria editors and reporters use to evaluate story value. Students apply these criteria to real headlines and pitches.

Lesson 1 • Organizing and Storing Research

Presents systems for filing notes, documents, and contacts so information is retrievable under deadline pressure. Reinforces professional habits established in the workflow section.

Lesson 2 • Document and Data Research

Covers public records, government databases, and open-source data as reporting tools. Students locate and assess documents relevant to a current news topic.

Lesson 3 • Primary vs. Secondary Research

Distinguishes firsthand reporting from document-based research and explains when each is appropriate. Grounds students in the evidence hierarchy used in professional newsrooms.

Lesson 4 • Digital Research Techniques

Introduces advanced web search, social media monitoring, and digital verification tools. Students apply these skills to trace the origin of a viral claim.

Lesson 1 • Post-Interview Follow-Up

Addresses clarification requests, fact-checking quotes, and maintaining source relationships after interviews. Reinforces accuracy standards introduced in the ethics section.

Lesson 2 • Interview Preparation

Covers background research, question design, and logistical planning before an interview. Strong preparation directly improves quote quality and source trust.

Lesson 3 • Note-Taking and Recording

Covers shorthand, verbatim transcription, and audio recording practices for accurate quote capture. Accurate notes are the foundation of fair attribution.

Lesson 4 • Interview Ground Rules

Explains on-the-record, off-the-record, on background, and not-for-attribution agreements. Students negotiate and document ground rules in simulated scenarios.

Lesson 1 • Attribution and Quotation

Teaches correct attribution style, direct vs. indirect quotes, and when to paraphrase. Proper attribution protects accuracy and source relationships built in earlier chapters.

Lesson 2 • Clarity, Concision, and Tone

Addresses active voice, plain language, jargon elimination, and neutral tone in news prose. Students revise a dense draft to meet readability standards.

Lesson 3 • Writing the Lead

Covers hard news leads, delayed leads, and common lead failures such as burying the news. A strong lead is the single most important sentence in a news story.

Lesson 4 • AP Style and House Style

Introduces the standard style guide used in American newsrooms and common house-style variations. Consistent style signals professionalism and speeds editing.

Lesson 1 • Verifying Claims and Statements

Covers methods for checking factual assertions from sources, officials, and press releases. Students trace a disputed claim back to its primary evidence.

Lesson 2 • The Verification Mindset

Establishes skepticism, corroboration, and transparency as the reporter's default stance toward all information. This mindset underpins every technique taught in the chapter.

Lesson 3 • Verifying Visual and Audio Content

Teaches tools and methods for authenticating photos, videos, and audio before use. Visual misinformation is a growing threat to news credibility.

Lesson 4 • Corrections and Accountability

Explains how to issue timely, transparent corrections and learn from verification failures. Accountability practices reinforce the ethical standards introduced in Chapter 1.

Lesson 1 • Covering Meetings and Public Events

Teaches preparation, live note-taking, and post-event follow-up for government meetings, press conferences, and public hearings. These are primary story-generation venues on most beats.

Lesson 2 • Understanding the Beat System

Explains how newsrooms assign and manage beats and why specialization improves coverage quality. Students identify the key institutions and actors on a chosen beat.

Lesson 3 • Developing Exclusive Beat Stories

Addresses how to generate original stories beyond reactive coverage using beat knowledge and source tips. Students pitch an exclusive story idea with a sourcing plan.

Lesson 4 • Beat Reporting Ethics

Examines conflicts of interest, source capture, and access journalism risks specific to long-term beat work. Applies the ethical framework from Chapter 1 to beat-specific pressures.

Lesson 1 • Structuring the Investigative Story

Covers narrative structures, evidence sequencing, and reader-friendly presentation for long-form investigations. Students outline a multi-part investigative series.

Lesson 2 • Data Analysis for Investigations

Introduces spreadsheet analysis, database querying, and pattern recognition in large datasets. Students analyze a provided dataset to surface a newsworthy finding.

Lesson 3 • Confronting Subjects and Right of Reply

Teaches how to present findings to subjects, document their responses, and incorporate denials fairly. This step is ethically mandatory before publishing serious allegations.

Lesson 4 • Building the Document Trail

Covers systematic acquisition, organization, and analysis of records central to investigative work. Builds directly on the document research skills from Chapter 2.

Lesson 1 • Social Media as a Reporting Tool

Addresses using social platforms for newsgathering, breaking news distribution, and audience engagement. Applies verification skills from Chapter 5 to social media content.

Lesson 2 • Video Reporting Basics

Introduces shooting, scripting, and editing short-form video news packages. Students produce a 90-second video news report on a current topic.

Lesson 3 • Audio and Podcast Reporting

Covers recording, editing, and scripting audio news content for broadcast and podcast formats. Students produce a two-minute audio news report.

Lesson 4 • Writing for Digital Platforms

Adapts news writing principles to web reading behavior, SEO, and mobile-first audiences. Builds on the writing skills from Chapter 4 for a digital context.