NewsU Recommended Training

Poynter's News University extends the Poynter Institute's mission as a school for journalists, future journalists, teachers of journalism and anyone interested in the craft and values of the field.

Below are NewsU courses for journalists who are new to the practice or anyone interested in journalism. The courses are FREE unless marked otherwise.

• Journalism Fundamentals: Craft and Values
  In this course, you'll learn the foundational concepts for reporting, writing, editing and producing multimedia. You'll also gain insight into how journalists think and make editorial decisions.
    
• News Sense: The Building Blocks of News
  News Sense explores the basic building blocks of news stories. You’ll examine the who, what, when, where, why and how of events and see how the answers to those questions shape news coverage. You’ll get a chance to apply what you’ve learned through interactive games and quizzes throughout the course.
    
• The Interview
  This module will teach you what you need to know about being a better interviewer and allow you to put those lessons into practice as you learn. With the aid of a virtual coach and a typical encounter with a not entirely forthcoming source, you'll have the chance to see firsthand how the kinds of questions you pose can stop or start an effective interview.
  
  
• Conducting Interviews that Matter
  Across all media — print, radio, television, podcast and beyond — journalists thrive on conducting effective interviews. It’s an intricate skill: crafting questions, pivoting around new information, listening intently, managing your biases and more.
    
• Introduction to Reporting: Beat Basics
  This course will help you identify the key issues and sources on your beat, learn how to determine what’s included in your beat and develop the resources to focus your coverage. This course will help you confidently approach reporting and writing the first stories off your new beat.
    
• The Lead Lab
  The lead of a story makes a promise to the reader of good things to come. Do you deliver on that promise every time you write a lead? Have you ever wondered how to craft better leads? This course is here to help.
    
• Cleaning Your Copy: Grammar, Style and More
  Mistakes in grammar, spelling and style are like coffee stains on a shirt. Readers notice. And those mistakes will eat away at your credibility as a journalist. This self-directed course will help you understand the basics of grammar, spelling, punctuation and AP style.
  
  
• Language Primer
  Added to our list in 2023. Cost: $50.  One of Poynter’s all-time most popular courses, the Language Primer has been fully updated and revised for 2023. Gain proficiency in the fundamentals of grammar, punctuation and word use in the English language. Course updated in 2023.
    
• Freedom of Information and Your Right to Know
  Freedom of information is instrumental to journalism and essential for democracy. This course teaches you how to use the Freedom of Information Act, Public Records Laws and Open Meetings Laws to uphold your right to know the government’s actions. Learn not only the details of FOIA laws in your state, but how to use FOIA to write better stories today. This course will teach you how to determine if something is a public document and how to access it if it is.
  
  
• Math for Journalists
  Added to our list in 2023. Cost: $29.95.  Numbers crop up in media stories constantly. Science and health reporting. Education. Food. Even weather. Confront these numbers head-on and write about them accurately, ethically and elegantly.
  
  
• Getting It Right: Accuracy and Verification in the Digital Age
  Added to our list in 2023. Cost: $20. Get the knowledge and tools necessary to become more accurate in what you publish in print, over the airwaves or online. You’ll learn more about how and why errors appear in your work, and gain a fundamental understanding of how to prevent them, along with the most up-to-the-minute tools for verifying information online. Course updated in 2023.
  
  
• Dignity and Precision in Language
  As journalists wrestle with word choice to describe this tumultuous global moment during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, it is more important than ever to achieve both dignity and precision in news coverage. From race and identity to global descriptions of places and circumstances, this webinar offers three decision-making tools to help journalists find the most precise words to ensure that all subjects and sources are described with dignity.
  
  
• Pay Attention: Legal Issues and Your Media Company
  The long arm of the law reaches into every aspect of a news organization, no matter how small or large. From how reporters go about digging up information and which community members get covered to what you do when mistakes do happen or angry readers claim defamation, legal issues are constantly part of the journalism process. The core of this course will focus on risks that news organizations face when publishing articles, video, and other content.
     
  
• Stories from the 2020 Census
  This self-directed course will help journalists access and analyze census data to cover their changing communities, now and in the future. In five lessons – taken at your own pace – you'll learn how to find good stories in your community or state using the latest “redistricting data” file. It includes numbers about overall population totals, race and Hispanic origin, and housing units. We’ll show you how to find data for states, counties, cities and even local neighborhoods, and compare 2020 counts with 2010 numbers.
  
  
• Avoiding Plagiarism and Fabrication
  Learn what plagiarism and fabrication are, why they are so toxic and how to avoid them. This course also will help editors and producers, as well as educators, detect and root out plagiarism and fabrication.