5+1 online journalism courses
Considering pursuing a journalism career or advancing your existing skills and knowledge? These online journalism courses might prove useful to boost your skills and qualifications.
A career in journalism requires sharpening specific skills such as writing, public speaking, research, and communication. Most entry-level jobs require at least a bachelor’s degree, with a preference for concentrations in journalism or mass communication. But if you’re looking for more speedy and flexible programs, luckily there are a number of online courses out there offering a good way to improve your skills, build knowledge, and enhance your educational credentials.
Moonshot News has selected 6 online journalism courses covering a wide range of subjects, such as reporting, analyzing, and publishing news, interview skills, research techniques, journalistic ethics, fact checking, and editorials.
Become a Journalist: Report the News! Specialization
To begin with, the Michigan State University offers in the Coursera platform a specialization, promising to help you develop and enhance your understanding of the global field of journalism.
You will learn best practices and ethical standards for newsgathering processes and compiling a news report through hands-on projects, peer-to-peer feedback, and issue exploration. You will also study journalism’s impact on societal issues and trends, plus explore career opportunities in newspapers, magazines, social media, Internet multimedia, television, radio, corporate and community journalism. The final Capstone project will guide you through the journalistic portfolio process, where you will conceptualize, report and complete a professional-quality news report.
This Specialization takes approximately 6 months to complete, with a suggested pace of 4 hours/week.
Reuters Online Training: Introduction to Digital Journalism
Another great program you should definitely consider is Reuters’ free training course in digital journalism, produced in partnership with the Facebook Journalism Project. The course takes a deep dive into the best practices for budding and experienced journalists alike, exploring four modules:
- Digital Newsgathering, which “gives users the tools to find stories faster, analyze eyewitness reports and reach new audiences”.
- Verification and Reporting, which “explores the essential skills of how to verify sources and content on digital platforms”.
- Publishing Effectively on Social Media, which focuses on “producing powerful and engaging content”.
- Wellness and Resilience, which teaches the “crucial ability to cope with online harassment and includes self-care 101”.
This two-hour training will introduce you to the best practices in digital journalism. Using compelling images, and hands-on how-to’s, the course offers valuable insight. After completing the training, you will receive a digital certificate of completion.
English for Journalism
Not all of us speak the Queen’s English! For professionals who were not born into an international mother tongue, mastering the English language is one of the top priorities – especially for journalists.
This course – created by the University of Pennsylvania, and funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Office of English Language Programs – is designed for non-native English speakers who are interested in developing the skills needed for a career in modern journalism.
In this course, you will explore print and digital media through authentic readings and video lectures, while expanding your vocabulary and increasing your ability to read, research, and develop local and global news stories.
Freelance and Feature Writing
The London School of Journalism offers a wide range of distance learning courses, covering creative writing and journalism in all its forms. One of these offerings is the Freelance and Feature Writing course.
The great advantage of freelance writing is that it can be done either in conjunction with another career, or as a career in itself. It can also be a very well paid profession, whether part-time or full-time. This online course is an ideal starting point and covers the whole field of modern freelance writing. Flexible in its approach, it is geared to the specific needs of each individual writer.
You can choose to take this course with additional modules in the following specialist subjects: Freelance and Music & the Arts, Freelance and Travel Writing and Freelance and Sports Writing.
Mobile Video Journalism: Video Editing for Mobile Reporters
This Udemy Mobile Journalism Masterclass was originally developed to train CNN journalists and is updated frequently with new tutorials. It has been used to train thousands of reporters and uses proven distance learning techniques.
This course will teach you the methods that produce professional-looking video packages every time. You will learn:
- Best practices for producing, filming, and editing mobile video
- How to use the Filmic Pro app to capture broadcast-quality smartphone video
- How to develop a mobile video story from start to finish
- Master storyboarding techniques and mobile video story forms
- Produce a portfolio of mobile videos with 10 projects
- Develop in-depth interviewing techniques that deliver great results
- How to edit a branded video on a mobile device for quick publishing
- The basics of editing on iMovie (and other video apps)
- How to deliver for a polished, professional look to your video stories
- The secrets to creating social video that resonates with a mobile audience!
This course includes 6 hours on-demand video, 25 articles and 12 downloadable resources.
Activism and Citizen Journalism through Media
Media is a powerful tool for promoting social justice. If you are an activist involved in promoting or advocating for a social cause, this course, offered by edX, aims to provide you with valuable information and guidance.
It will help you to identify and pitch a newsworthy story, select appropriate media for publicizing your story; and assess the impact of your story. The course also addresses working in an ethical way as both an activist and citizen journalist.
You’ll learn how to: identify newsworthy issues, define the limits and possibilities of different mobile platforms and tools, identify an appropriate strategy and platform/tool to reach a defined target audience, apply ethical and safe media practices.
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