NewsU Online Journalism Training

Let’s say you like learning about journalism, but you don’t have the time or money to head out to every conference or event that strikes your fancy. How cool would it be if there were a website where you could get online training in almost every area of journalism for free or a nominal fee? That’s what NewsU is all about.NewsU (short for News University) is an innovative online journalism training program that offers instruction from writing and reporting basics to multimedia and new media-specific training. There are close to 100 courses offered through the site, an e-learning project of The Poynter Institute.

NewsU isn’t a new service. It’s officially been around since 2005. I just happened to come across the site looking to brush up on my copy editing skills (per some of your suggestions). I was blown away by the selection of courses – many of which are offered free of charge for registered users (and it’s free to register). This is a deal you can’t pass up.

Among some of the “Hot Courses” Offered by NewsU:

• Cleaning Your Copy
• The “Be A Reporter” Game
• News Sense: The Building Blocks of News
• 10 Things You Can Do for Free on Your Website
• Five Steps to Multimedia Storytelling

Courses are offered across a variety of categories, including Advertising, Broadcast, Design, Editing, Journalism Basics, Management, Newspapers, Photojournalism, Reporting, and Writing.

NewsU recently began offering a new category of training around software skills called NewsU Tech. This training category provides hands-on training for many of the most popular software applications used by professional journalists.

Most of the courses I plan on taking are offered free of charge. Of the courses I found that cost money, most are offered for approximately $25. That’s still quite a deal, even in this economy.

If you’ve been thinking of brushing up on your skills or learning some new ones, NewsU could be a great resource for you.

Have you participated in NewsU Online Journalism Training? Share your experience with us below.

More About NewsU

News University is a project of The Poynter Institute for Media Studies funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, NewsU is committed to providing interactive, inexpensive courses that appeal to journalists at all levels of experience and in all types of media. Officially launched in April 2005, NewsU offers an innovative approach to helping journalists enhance their skills. We know the most successful journalists never stop learning.

News University is supported by a grant from Knight Foundation, part of the foundation’s Newsroom Training Initiative, which aims to increase both journalism education and news industry investment in training.

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Tagged as: journalism education, journalism training