Ever wondered what it takes to write the next big story, or dreamed about winning the elusive Pulitzer Prize for journalism? Online journalism courses ensure that budding journalists can gain the necessary skills to compete with the best in the writing business. Here are some free online course recommendations to help get your career on track.
Start Date: September 11, 2017
Created By: Duke University
Students interested in learning the essential components of English prose and improving their writing skills. Targeted for those with basic English proficiency and experience with secondary-level English composition.
Start Date: Self-Start
Created by: UC Berkeley
In this journalism course, students will acquire a model for understanding the ways in which media can inspire social change. Topics include the exploration of immigration rights, women’s rights, and criminal justice.
Global Muckraking: Investigative Journalism and Global Media
Start Date: October 3, 2017
Created by: Columbia University
Learn the techniques for investigative journalism by studying examples covering much of the world. This course will give students an extended look at new innovations within the media and the inner sanctum of journalists as government watchdogs.
Fake News, Facts, and Alternative Facts
Start Date: Archived
Created by: University of Michigan
In an age of dubious information, this course gives students a way to sift through reliable and unreliable information. Other learning objectives include psychological analysis of biases and logical fallacies and the ways in which people can establish the credibility of news sources.
Start Date: Archived
Created by: Davidson College
This short course teaches how to grasp the reasoning and motivations behind creating fake news. Interviews with media pundits and leading journalists give students a new perspective of this phenomenon.
Start Date: Archived
Created by: University of Hong Kong
Explores the questions of why the news matters, and why news is different from other formats of media. For those interested in news from the consumption –– rather than creative –– angle.
Start Date: September 11, 2017
Created by: University of Pennsylvania
This course, funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the US State Department, is targeted to non-native English speakers interested in a career in modern journalism. Objectives include researching and interviewing skills, as well as language creation.
Transmedia Storytelling: Narrative worlds, emerging technologies, and global audiences
Start Date: September 18, 2017
Created by: UNSW Australia
For those intrigued by the techniques of the journalism industry that use digital media formats to convey information. Students can learn how to spin a great story and reach a wide audience using a multi-platform approach.
Journalism Skills for Engaged Citizens
Start Date: Archived
Created by: University of Melbourne
This course is designed for those wanting to develop their skills as citizen journalists in the age of mass communication and social media. Discusses journalistic ethics and legal rights to public information.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nick Irvin is a 3rd year undergraduate studying at UC Davis. He enjoys reading, writing, and golfing.