#nocturalstudyblr

I’ve been taking a class about journalism and I got a lot of interesting tips about how to write like a good journalist.

But Aly, what’s a good journalist? No need to explain it for hours: journalism changed. People used to take time to write an article, now they (basically) all rush to get the work done. But there are important rules if you want to write an article.

This masterpost is for everyone. If you have a blog, have a homework about writing like a journalist, or even if you only want to know how to do that. → here’s the masterpost:

1. Show - Don’t tell. I would say this is the first and most important rule. Telling is easy, you take a good story, write it and tadaaaa! But that’s not journalism. A journalist shows what is the story, why is it important, when it happens, where it happens, how it happens. If you follow this rule, you’ve already done half of the work.

2. Cover - Don’t follow. Once again, this is an important rule. A journalist has to cover his topic not randomly follow what other people said about it. It implies an investigation; a research of the topic. You need to prove to the readers that you are right, that what you say is what is true. And it all starts with proofs. Find polls, find stats, find numbers or quotes that will justify your article.

3. Say the truth. Aly, that’s a stupid one? No, telling the truth is important. Nowadays, way too many journalists rewrite stories which lead to misinformation and confusion. Be honest. Accuracy is a word you should worship if you’re writing an article. Think about what G. Orwell said “Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed.”

4. Write about the future. You’re the journalist, tell them the story. Readers will be more focused about what will happen tomorrow, rather than what happened yesterday.

5. Transparency. You should never show your opinion, you are here to inform people about facts, not here to recount a story. You have to stay neutral. As my teacher would say: “You’re not Stendhal, you’re not here to write a story. You’re here to tell the story using facts, proofs and witnesses!” One good way to avoid being too subjective: don’t use too many adjectives as they always show your opinion.

6. Remember you’re writing for readers. Put yourself in their shoes, they might not know your topic, the acronyms you use or anything like that. Explain to them what it is all about!

I hope my masterpost helped some of you, let me know if you have any questions and you can always message me for further information!