The Essentials of Journalism

This collection of guides explains the basic principles and elements of good journalism.

What makes a good story?

A good story is about something the audience decides is interesting or important. A great story often does both by using storytelling to make important news interesting.

The public is exceptionally diverse. Though people may share certain characteristics or beliefs, they have an untold variety of concerns and interests.

So anything can be news. But not everything is newsworthy. Journalism is a process in which a reporter uses verification and storytelling to make a subject newsworthy.

At its most basic level, news is a function of distribution -– news organizations (or members of the public) create stories to pass on a piece of information to readers, viewers, or listeners.

A good story, however, does more than inform or amplify. It adds value to the topic.

The Elements of Journalism, in fact, describes journalism as “storytelling with a purpose.”

Creating a good story means finding and verifying important or interesting information and then presenting it in a way that engages the audience. Good stories are part of what make journalism different, and more valuable, than other content in the media universe.

Research proves two things about good stories:

Treatment trumps topic. How a story is told is more important to the audience than its topic, what it is about. The best story is a well-told tale about something the reader feels is relevant or significant.

The best stories are more complete and more comprehensive. They contain more verified information from more sources with more viewpoints and expertise. They exhibit more enterprise, more reportorial effort.

Crafting good journalism

The Elements of Journalism describes journalism as “storytelling with a purpose.”

All Guides

Journalism Essentials: Introduction

What makes journalism different than other forms of communication?

What is the purpose of journalism?

The elements of journalism

What does a journalist do?

The journalist as a ‘committed observer’

The theory of the interlocking public

The lost meaning of ‘objectivity’

Understanding bias

Tools to manage bias

Journalism as a discipline of verification

The Hierarchy of Accuracy

The Hierarchy of Information and concentric circles of sources

The Protess Method of verification

What makes a good story?

Good stories are important and interesting

Boring versus engaging stories – what’s the difference?

Good stories prove their relevance to the audience