Duration of the online course: 3 hours and 47 minutes
4.9
(15)
Build newsroom-ready English skills in this free online course: write clear stories, spot bias, interview sources, and communicate with confidence—certificate-ready.
In this free course, learn about
Core journalism principles for sourcing info: accuracy, verification, and credible sources
How to tell the complete story using key journalism principles (context, balance, completeness)
Using simple past vs past progressive to describe completed actions vs ongoing past actions
Journalism’s impact role: giving voice to the powerless and serving the public interest
What influences time spent with media and how audiences interact with media content
What media literacy involves: accessing, analyzing, evaluating, and creating media messages
Using modals to express opinions; possibility strength order from strongest to weakest
How to use modals correctly in sentences (form, placement, and meaning)
Recognizing media bias types: placement, omission, and spin
Denotation vs connotation and how word choice shapes meaning and bias
Steps to overcome bias by omission: identify missing info and seek additional sources
Choosing and narrowing a broad topic into a focused, reportable story idea
Difference between daily news reporting and investigative journalism approaches
Pitching to editors and radio: clear angle, audience value, and audio-specific considerations
About the free online course
Strong journalism depends on two essentials: trustworthy reporting and clear language. This free online course helps you develop both by combining professional journalism practice with practical English skills you can use immediately. You will learn how journalists find and evaluate sources, shape information into a complete story, and make reporting that matters to the public. Along the way, you will strengthen the grammar and vocabulary choices that make your writing accurate, readable, and credible.
You will explore how to gather information responsibly, verify what you hear, and decide what belongs in a story. Then you will focus on turning facts into strong narratives by choosing the right details, organizing them effectively, and writing with clarity and purpose. To support your writing, the course revisits key language tools such as the simple past and past progressive, helping you describe events precisely, keep timelines clear, and avoid ambiguity that can confuse readers.
Modern journalists also need to understand how audiences engage with media and why media literacy matters. You will practice expressing opinions carefully using modals to signal certainty or possibility, a crucial skill when presenting developing stories or discussing claims that still require confirmation. These language choices help you stay fair, transparent, and professional.
Another major focus is recognizing and reducing bias. You will examine common forms such as bias by placement, omission, spin, and the subtle influence of denotation versus connotation. By learning how word choice and structure can shift meaning, you will be better prepared to edit your own work, question assumptions, and create more balanced reporting.
Finally, you will gain confidence in developing story ideas from a broad topic, researching effectively, and pitching to different formats, including print and radio. You will also practice forming strong WH questions for interviews, and learn how to use quotes and reporting verbs to attribute information clearly. By the end, you will have a sharper journalistic mindset and more effective English for real reporting tasks, whether you are aiming to publish, study journalism, or expand your professional communication skills.
Course content
Video class: Module 1 Principles of Journalism 1 - Overview and Gathering Sources06m
Exercise: What are the first two principles that journalists need to remember when they are finding their sources or information?
Video class: Module 1 Principles of Journalism 2 - Telling the Story05m
Exercise: What is a principle of journalism crucial for ensuring articles tell the complete story?
Video class: Module 1 Language Focus – Simple Past and Past Progressive05m
Exercise: What is the difference between the simple past and the past progressive tense?
Video class: Module 1 Principles of Journalism 3 - Making an Impact06m
Exercise: Which principle of journalism involves giving a voice to the powerless?
Video class: Module 1 Language Focus Word Families06m
Exercise: What is a derivational suffix?
Video class: Module 1 Strategies for New Words Roots and Prefixes05m
Exercise: What is the I-G-D strategy for dealing with new vocabulary in a news article?
Video class: Module 1 Strategies for New Words04m
Video class: Module 2 William Cowen Interview06m
Exercise: What affects the amount of time people spend interacting with media?
Video class: Module 2 What is Media Literacy?03m
Exercise: What does being media literate involve?
Video class: Module 2 Expressing Opinions with Modals 103m
Exercise: What is the order of modals that express possibility from the strongest to the weakest?
Video class: Module 2 Expressing Opinions with Modals 203m
Exercise: How to correctly use modals in a sentence?
Video class: Module 2 How Can We Analyze Media Messages? (Part 2)05m
Video class: Module 3 Bias by Placement05m
Exercise: What is bias by placement?
Video class: Module 3 Bias by Omission05m
Exercise: What is bias by omission in media reporting?
Video class: Module 3 Connotation vs Denotation04m
Exercise: What is the difference between denotation and connotation?
Video class: Module 3 Bias by Spin04m
Exercise: What is bias by spin in media?
Video class: Module 3 Overcoming Bias04m
Exercise: What is the first step in overcoming bias by omission in media messages?
Video class: Module 4 Choosing a Topic04m
Exercise: How can a journalist narrow down a large topic into a specific idea?
Video class: Module 4 Researching an Idea04m
Exercise: What is the difference between a news story and investigative journalism?
Video class: Module 4 Pitching a Story to Newspapers and Magazines03m
Exercise: What is crucial when pitching a story to an editor?
Video class: Module 4 Pitching a Story for Radio05m
Exercise: What are the two things that a journalist needs to think about when pitching a radio script?
Video class: Module 4 Interviewing Sources Wh Questions04m
Exercise: What is the word order for WH questions?
Video class: Module 4 Create a Pitch (Sample)01m
Exercise: What is the reason for the excitement in the author's town?
Video class: Module 5 Language Focus Quoting Sources and Reporting Verbs04m
Exercise: Why do journalists use quotes in their articles?
Video class: Module 5 Interview with a Student Journalist from The Daily Pennsylvanian03m
Exercise: How often does The Daily Pennsylvanian print issues and how do they decide which stories to cover?
Video class: Module 5 Interviewing Notetaking06m
Video class: Module 5 Language Focus Using Reported Speech05m
Exercise: What are the two things that need to change when moving from a quote to reported speech?
Video class: Module 5 Interviewing Reliability, Facts, and Opinions05m
Video class: Module 5 Language Focus - Sample Interview05m
Exercise: What is the purpose of making predictions when interviewing a source in English?
Video class: Module 6 Types of Leads04m
Video class: Module 6 Print Media04m
Exercise: What is the first step a journalist takes in writing an article for print media?
Video class: Module 6 Creating a Lead04m
Video class: Module 6 SV Agreement with Complicated Subjects04m
Exercise: What do we add to the end of verbs when the subject is third-person singular in English?
Video class: Module 6 - Using the Inverted Pyramid Style05m
Exercise: What is the inverted pyramid style of organizing a news article?
Video class: Module 6 - Writing a Conclusion05m
Video class: Module 7 Use of Active Passive Verbs03m
Video class: Module 7 Proofreading an Article05m
Video class: Module 7 Reporting Accurately05m
Exercise: What does a journalist need to do to report a story accurately?
Video class: Module 7 Structure of Active and Passive Verbs04m
Video class: Module 8 The Language of Broadcast Journalism04m
Video class: Module 8 Types of Stories for Broadcast Journalism04m
Exercise: What is a feel-good story in broadcast journalism?
Video class: Module 8 Using Conversational Style04m
Video class: Module 8 Ratings in TV News How Journalists Compete04m
Exercise: What are ratings in television news and why are they important to producers, anchors, and correspondents?
Video class: Module 8 Sensationalism in TV News04m
Video class: Module 8 The 24-Hour News Cycle05m
Exercise: What does the 24-hour news cycle mean?
Video class: Module 8 Language Focus Stress and Pausing05m
Video class: Module 8 Types of Stories for Broadcast Journalism04m
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Course comments: English for Journalism
Students found the free course informative, understandable, and valuable for learning journalism basics through clear explanations, examples, and definitions. They appreciated the platform and professor, though one student noted that some videos are missing.
RO
Rosemary Okafor
This is the only app I know you can learn professional course for free, without paying a dime
RK
Robert Kilingisu
it's one of the greatest understandable great teacher great audio I love it
MH
Md Hasanujamal
Thanks you so much
MM
MOATASEM MUSAED AHMED SALEH AL-SHARGI
I'lovet
LB
Lilia Bach
Great introduction to journalism. Explains the basics thereof simply with examples and definitions. My only complaint is that some videos are missing.
MY
Muawiya Yushau Abdulkarim
I learn a lot from the platform,thank you so much !
Course comments: English for Journalism
Students found the free course informative, understandable, and valuable for learning journalism basics through clear explanations, examples, and definitions. They appreciated the platform and professor, though one student noted that some videos are missing.
Rosemary Okafor
This is the only app I know you can learn professional course for free, without paying a dime
Robert Kilingisu
it's one of the greatest understandable great teacher great audio I love it
Md Hasanujamal
Thanks you so much
MOATASEM MUSAED AHMED SALEH AL-SHARGI
I'lovet
Lilia Bach
Great introduction to journalism. Explains the basics thereof simply with examples and definitions. My only complaint is that some videos are missing.
Muawiya Yushau Abdulkarim
I learn a lot from the platform,thank you so much !
Heirla Castro
the course is very informative.
salyse w.
good for notes, thank you.
foudhelx1@gmail.com
Very good