Media Helping Media (MHM)

Preserving and promoting the core principles of accurate, impartial, public-service journalism by offering free training materials in multiple formats to be downloaded, adapted, and used.


Essential Journalism Values

CHECK OUT MORE THAN 250 ARTICLES ON JOURNALISM BEST PRACTICE

Accuracy

Why accuracy is essential

Accuracy means getting every single detail in your story absolutely correct.

Impartiality

Why impartiality matters

Impartiality means leaving your opinions at home when you go work.

Public interest

Serving the audience

Public service journalism covers the news that society needs to function.

400 resources

Download and adapt

Free articles, guides, and tools designed to strengthen journalism


Free Journalism Learning Materials

DOWNLOAD AND ADAPT MORE THAN 140 ASSORTED TRAINING RESOURCES

Exercises

Our free one-hour exercises provide practical skill-building activities for self-directed learning.

Workshops

Our two-hour and four-hour workshops offer structured training sessions on essential journalism skills.

Lessons

Our free day-long lesson outlines are for trainers to download and adapt for specific local training needs.

Refreshers

Our free day-long intense refresher courses are to help experienced journalists update their skills .

Modules

Our free six-week course modules deliver structured training programmes on major journalism themes.

Quick Guides

We’ve turned selected in-depth training material into bite-sized checklists for easy reference and review


Basic Journalism

SAMPLE ARTICLES FROM - OUR BASICS SECTION

Court reporting for beginners

Reporting on court hearings requires an understanding of local laws and knowing what can be reported and what can‘t.

Interviewing politicians

Master the art of interviewing politicians: learn to handle scripts, stay on track, know your subject, and avoid losing your cool.

Crime reporting for beginners

Crime journalists must balance the public’s right to know with ethics, ensuring accuracy and sensitivity while avoiding sensationalism or prejudice.

Editorial Ethics

SAMPLE ARTICLES FROM - OUR ETHICS SECTION

Integrity and journalism

Without integrity your journalism is untrustworthy and suspect. Integrity is essential if a journalist wants to investigate issues, shine a light in dark places, and to dig where others don't.

Fairness in journalism

Fairness in journalism means exploring all sides of an issue and reporting the findings accurately.

Impartiality in journalism

For journalists, being impartial means presenting information without demonstrating favouritism towards any specific viewpoint or party.

Advanced Journalism

SAMPLE ARTICLES FROM - OUR ADVANCED SECTION

Planning a radio current affairs programme

Explore the difference between radio news and daily current affairs programmes, and learn how they work together to keep audiences fully informed.

The use of idioms in journalism

Journalists producing serious news coverage must always write in a way that is clear, accurate, free from jargon.

The glossary of Information disorder

The following information disorder glossary is designed to help journalists understand the most common terms used.

Investigative Journalism

SAMPLE ARTICLES FROM - OUR INVESTIGATIVE SECTION

Tips for investigative journalism

This article looks at some of the main points to consider when producing a piece of investigative journalism.

AI and investigative journalism

The landscape of investigative journalism is undergoing a significant transformation, with artificial intelligence (AI) emerging as a powerful ally for reporters.

The investigative journalism dossier

Discipline, order and a well thought out plan are essential for successful investigative journalism.

Management

SAMPLE ARTICLES FROM - OUR MANAGEMENT SECTION

Tool: Story Weighting System

Different news stories have a different value for your audience and for your business. Giving news items a 'weighting' can lead to impact and efficiencies.

Building a news team from scratch

Selecting, training and organising a strong news team is a challenge in any circumstances, but doing so in a refugee camp with no resources is an amazing achievement. One editor explains how it was done.

Story development techniques

Journalists need to look for related stories, angles, or missing pieces of a story in order to help the audience understand the importance of the issue being covered.

Newsroom Strategy

SAMPLE ARTICLES FROM - OUR STRATEGY SECTION

Creating a distinctive radio station sound

A radio station can only achieve impact if it has a unique and consistent sound and delivers content that the listeners can relate to.

Preparing a media corporate plan

The corporate plan is the most important tool in a media chief executive’s toolbox. Without it the media organisation can become lost and directionless.

Convergence: transforming news production

Introducing a converged news operation is rarely easy. Those trying to introduce changes in workflows, roles and responsibilities are often met with resistance.

Ethical Scenarios

SAMPLE ARTICLES FROM - OUR SCENARIOS SECTION

Privacy protection – scenario

You are working on the online news desk of a large media organisation. News breaks of fighting overseas. Raw footage arrives showing identifiable dead bodies. What do you do?

Emotional assumptions – scenario

In this scenario a journalist lets their own emotional assumptions colour their news judgement resulting in misinformation.

Testing boundaries – scenario

In this scenario we look at a situation where an editor faces breaking protocol because of the strength of a story.

Training of Trainers - ToT

SAMPLE ARTICLES FROM - OUR TRAINING OF TRAINERS SECTION

Evaluating the impact of training

The evaluation process for media training is set in motion the moment you are engaged by the media organisation you are being asked to help.

Media training requirements

For international media training to be successful, tried, tested and proven case studies from a similar region are needed.

Tool: Evaluation and Impact Assessment

Training should always be judged by its effectiveness, and there are several tools for measuring success. The following is to evaluate the assess the impact of the training. 

Training Tools

SAMPLE ARTICLES FROM - OUR TRAINING TOOLS SECTION

Tool: Newsroom Convergence Implementation

This newsroom convergence tool helps editors deliver content to multiple platforms from one source, increasing reach and efficiency while reducing costs.

Tool: Training of Trainers (ToT)

Training of Trainers (ToT) courses are designed to equip individuals with the skills and knowledge needed to train others.

Tool: Evaluation and Impact Assessment

Training should always be judged by its effectiveness, and there are several tools for measuring success. The following is to evaluate the assess the impact of the training. 

Radio production training in Jaffna, Sri LankaCheck out our short guide setting out how to make the best use of the free training resources on Media Helping Media.

Journalism training in KampalaMedia Helping Media has no political or financial backers – it’s just professional journalists sharing their knowlege. Find out more.

Fojo logoMedia Helping Media is proud to be hosted by the Fojo Media Institute.

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Creative Commons BY NC SA 4.0The content on Media Helping Media (MHM) is released via Creative Commons BY NC SA 4.0.