SPECIALISM WRITING WORKSHOP

The course commits journalists to writing clear, concise and accurate breaking news stories on a specialist subject, topped by attractive headlines and clear lead paragraphs. Clients choose the subject matter. The course is biased towards active learning, asking participants to write their way through a series of breaking stories, but it also addresses the needs of reflection, theory and pragmatic learners.

Journalism skills addressed during the course

1. •News judgment
   

2. •Cultivating sources and obtaining exclusive stories
   

3. •Handling news releases
   

4. •Interviews
   

5. •Developing clear story structures
   

6. •Writing accurate, balanced stories quickly with solid context
   

7. •Writing good leads and headlines
   

8. •Knowledge of legal dangers
   

9. •Handling rumours and hoaxes
   

10. •Clarity in English writing
    

11. •Building plans to use in the event of a major story break.
    

Financial subjects addressed during the course

Courses run in the past have covered the following issues:

1. •European enlargement       
   

2. •Environment
   

3. •Health and medical
   

4. •Nuclear energy
   

5. •European central bank policy making
   

6. •International affairs
   

7. •Earthquakes and other natural disasters
   

8. •Coups and political assassinations
   

9. •Elections
   

10. •Government collapses and reshuffles.
    

Course Objectives 

After completing the course, participants can expect to be able to:

1. •Provide a well-written file of stories on a specialist subject
   

2. •Write clear, concise copy of appropriate length
   

3. •Demonstrate solid news judgment and discuss cover with a newsdesk
   

4. •Improve quotes from polished interviewing
   

5. •List principles of good writing and errors learned during the course
   

6. •Explain complex issues in readily understood language
   

7. •Explain how layering improves the delivery of complex information
   

8. •Avoid formulaic writing by eradicating jargon and unnecessary acronyms
   

9. •Use headlines, keywords and golden quotes to hook readers quickly
   

10. •Improve the use of context to explain the significance of a news event
    

11. •Tighten stories by eradicating tautology, clauses, adjectives and adverbs
    

12. •Deploy an accuracy checklist before filing stories.
    

Course Outline

The course simulates teams of journalists handling a flow of news events built on a specialist subject, including at least one major breaking story, underlining the need for good news editing, reporting and writing to create a polished file covering numerous story angles. Some events stimulate discussion on practical coverage, safety, legal requirements and ethical decisions; the course can be used to prepare for a major forthcoming news event. Journalists are asked to offer practical classroom written work to increasingly realistic time deadlines, based on the breaking story, interweaved with facilitated discussions on news judgment, writing and technical terms from invited experts. Participants are expected to use feedback from copy coaches to improve story structures, deliver tighter writing and inject better context into the evolving story. Reviews then offer participants in facilitated discussions a chance to extract learning points from the output of all writers, including trainer versions, and build checklists for better writing for use after the course. Emphasis can be placed on website writing requirements.

Terms explained during the course

Style guides, handouts, listening skills, the reliable notebook, media monitoring, journalism safety and trauma, human interest, brights, news in brief, picture captions.

Pre-course work

Pre-course reading, learning agreements and a short evaluation to establish existing knowledge of story structures and journalism methodology.