Ideal for anyone who loves the written word, this course will help you improve your writing skills, discover potential writing specialisations, and gain insights into how to achieve your ultimate career aspirations! From freelance writers after different writing techniques, editors wanting to attract new clients, or fiction authors who are keen to transition from one genre to another, online journalism courses can open up a world of possibilities for wordsmiths. 

Our Certificate of Journalism will teach you how to write manuscripts, books, advertising copy, bibliographies, columns, and newspapers and magazine articles, and get your work seen, acknowledged and even published by experts in the field! 

Learning Outcomes

Learning outcomes achieved by undertaking online journalism courses include: 

• Exploring the categories of freelance writing
• Uncovering the steps to getting started 
• Understanding the necessary resources including the equipment you’ll need
• Learning how to research the market
• Gaining insights into sources of information 
• Discovering how to develop yourself as a freelance writer 
• Exploring the various publishing options
• Learning about industry terminology
• Studying basic and essential writing skills
• Exploring how to improve a piece of writing
• Discovering the essential writing skills
• Learning how to use informative, persuasive and imaginative language
• Studying connotation and denotation
• Examining literal and figurative language 
• Gaining insights into formal and informal language
• Learning how to clearly communicate 
• Exploring how to make meanings clear
• Studying ambiguity and causes of confusion 
• Gaining an understanding of concise wording
• Understanding how to condense your writing
• Discovering in-concise writing
• Gaining insights into phrases linked in a wordy fashion 
• Learning about tautologies 
• Exploring abstract nouns
• Understanding when you’ve used too many words
• Discovering ellipsis 
• Examining active and passive language
• Gaining insights into grammatical rules and errors 
• Learning about the rules of speech
• Exploring punctuation and spelling
• Studying sentence structure and the types of sentences 
• Understanding how to compose sentences 
• Gaining insights into building a paragraph
• Learning how to plan what you write 
• Exploring conceptualisation 
• Studying how to develop a concept 
• Gaining an understanding of writing an outline synopsis 
• Examining word budgets 
• Gaining insights into writing structure 
• Learning how to research
• Exploring the writing process
• Studying feature writing conventions and article structure 
• Understanding an article’s introduction, billboard paragraph, body, ending and closer 
• Discovering references 
• Learning how to establish a writing routine
• Exploring the publishing world 
• Studying how to contact publishers
• Gaining insights into periodicals and books 
• Examining a sample publisher’s contract 
• Learning how to protect your work
• Exploring copyright 
• Studying how to obtain income from writing
• Understanding lending rights 
• Gaining insights into manuscripts 
• Learning how to prepare and present your manuscript
• Exploring editing, self-editing and the editing process
• Studying how to edit articles and manuscripts
• Gaining insights into writing a sales package
• Learning how to target reader synopsis
• Exploring titles 
• Studying the statement of objectives
• Gaining an understanding of the publishing process
• Examining presentation requirements
• Learning how to submit your work
• Exploring publishing processes for eBooks
• Studying how to self-publish online
• Gaining insights into newspaper writing 
• Learning how to write news articles and investigate articles 
• Studying how to write human interest and local newspaper articles 
• Examining short features, fillers and regular columns 
• Gaining insights into the interviewing process 
• Learning how to plan interview questions and conduct an interview
• Studying how to draw out interviewee answers and maintain note accuracy
• Exploring magazine writing including articles
• Examining what a publisher or editor considers 
• Gaining insights into articles including feature and services articles 
• Learning about travel writing
• Studying how to conduct magazine interviews 
• Exploring book writing including fiction
• Learning how to write fiction including the plot, characterisation and setting
• Examining fiction writing in terms of dialogue, conflict, structure and viewpoint
• Gaining insights into your target audience 
• Learning how to write with believability 
• Studying textbooks and non-fiction books 
• Gaining insights into fact-finding 
• Discovering how to gain book contacts 
• Learning about writing for advertising
• Exploring PR writing including media releases 
• Studying how to write promotional campaigns
• Gaining insights into writing online advertising copy 
• Exploring the concepts of selling, messages and effectiveness 
• Studying the art of advanced freelance writing
• Learning how to write and develop themes 
• Exploring summary skills and sentence structure 
• Studying how to write a regular column
• Gaining insights into newsletter, columns and writing criticism journalism 
• Learning about educational writing including interviewing skills 
• Exploring scientific writing in terms of statistics and technical writing
• Studying how to write a biographical story 
• Gaining insights into research and developing a draft plan 
• Learning how to write the final manuscript
• Discovering how to write and analyse a news article 
• Gaining an understanding of how to write for a sports event 
• Studying how to write fiction in terms of category and mainstream writing
• Exploring the characteristics of good fiction 
• Learning how to write science fiction and TV and radio scripts 
• Gaining insights into conducting a survey
• Exploring journalism practice 
• Studying how to work to specification on a problem-based learning project (PBL)
• Examining the stages of a PBL 
• Understanding how to write a PBL with consistency 
• Gaining insights into a sustainable career in journalism 
• Learning about publishing online including electronic publications 
• Exploring digital online writing and the skills needed
• Studying how to write and submit a digital article 
• Gaining an understanding of legal changes and styling a digital article 
• Examining digital writing in terms of main and chapter headers 
• Learning how to set a task project and revise submitted work

Australia’s Top 20 News Stories from 2019

One thing many great journalists seem to possess is the ‘nose’ for a good story. And according to a reader poll conducted by the ABC last year, there were some stories that, “for better or worse, you just couldn’t scroll past”. Undertake one of our online journalism courses and see if you can craft a better one in 2020! 

#1 – “Scott Morrison says ‘I have always believed in miracles’ as Coalition retains power”.

Morrison led the Coalition to victory in May after what was deemed a crushing defeat for Bill Shorten and the Labor Party.

#2 – “Christchurch shootings at two mosques leave 51 dead”.

An Australian man killed fifty-one people in two armed attacks on Christchurch mosques in March. PM Jacinda Ardern labelled the event ‘one of New Zealand’s darkest days’. 

#3 – “Crews battle blazes through busy night, but some respite expected”.

Unprecedented bushfire conditions gripped NSW, and on one particularly challenging day in November, 300 new fires sparked across the state. 

#4 – “Priceless relics saved from flames as Notre Dame ravaged by fire”.

A catastrophic fire engulfed the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris in April. It gutted and destroyed the landmark’s spire and left French citizens stunned.

#5 – “Sri Lanka bombings leave more than 200 dead, hundreds injured”.

On Easter Sunday in April, bomb blasts at Sri Lankan luxury hotels and churches killed at least 200 people and injured more than 450.

#6 – “Fraser Anning punches teen after being egged while speaking to media in Melbourne”.

Sparking what became the ‘Egg Boy’ phenomenon, a 17-year-old smashed an egg on Senator Fraser Anning’s head as he spoke at a political meeting in March.

#7 – “How does your income compare to everyone else’s?”

Many people struggle to accurately estimate how their income compares to other Australians, so this interactive tool attempted to determine how individuals fare. 

#8 – “Sydney stabbing suspect arrested after woman found dead and another injured in CBD”

In August, a man went on a stabbing rampage that left a woman seriously injured in hospital. Members of the public apprehended him by’ whacking’ him with a chair.

#9 – “George Pell found guilty of sexually abusing choirboys”.

In February, Australia’s most senior Catholic cleric was convicted of sexually abusing two choirboys while he was the Archbishop of Melbourne.

#10 – “Four shot dead, another injured by gunman in Darwin in terrible act of violence”.

A man who was recently released on parole killed four men and injured a woman when he went on a rampage across Darwin in June.

#11 – “Alex Braes went to emergency four times before dying”

Staff at a hospital in Broken Hill assumed a teenager’s painful knee was due to a sporting injury and sent him home. He died two days later of toxic shock from a deadly, flesh-eating disease.

#12 – “Rich school, poor school: Here’s where 8,500 schools rank on the income ladder”.

Figures published in August revealed four elite private schools spent more money on new facilities than the poorest Australian schools combined. 

#13 – “Rachel’s boyfriend died, then she bumped into him at a restaurant”.

Rachel’s believed her first real relationship was ‘normal’ until her boyfriend faked his own death. She realised the truth when she recognised him at a local restaurant.

#14 – “Veteran comedian Ian Cognito joked about dying before dropping dead onstage”.

During one of his live gigs, British stand-up comedian Ian Cognito joked to his audience, “Imagine if I died in front of you lot here”. Sadly, he passed away minutes later from a stroke.

#15 – “Sydney dentist Preethi Reddy’s body found in suitcase”.

A murdered woman’s former boyfriend was questioned about her disappearance in March. However, the case took an unfortunate turn when he died in what was believed to be a ‘deliberate’ car crash.

#16 – “A night with police on the frontline of our domestic violence emergency”.

Domestic violence crimes involve more police resources than any other serious crime. In this story, the author spent time with two police on the frontline of this ‘hidden’ emergency.

#17 – “I asked 1,300 girls how they bond with their fathers”.

The author spent time with girls and their dads and discovered that three things were raised repeatedly and backed by experts – including bonding on the sporting field.

#18 – “Ash Barty leaves hidden Disney messages in Wimbledon press conferences”.

Ash Barty livened up her Wimbledon press conferences in July with a number of references to Disney movies including The Little Mermaid, Toy Story and The Lion King.

#19 –“Sisters, aged six and 10, found dead at home in Perth’s northern suburbs”.

In October, two young girls were found dead by police in their Perth home after neighbours raised concerns. Their mother was later arrested in connection with their deaths.

#20 – “Victim’s family ‘speechless’ as Canada manhunt ends with discovery of bodies”.

After an extended manhunt, Canadian police discovered the bodies of two teenagers who were suspected of murdering three people including a Sydney man.

 

2019 Walkley Award Winners 

 

Australia’s annual Walkley Awards cover all media including TV, radio, print, photographic and online media. Here are a few of 2019’s winners – the perfect inspiration for considering online journalism courses! 

 

Gold Walkley Award – journalists Patrick Carlyon and Anthony Dowsley for their reporting of the Lawyer X Informer Scandal for Victoria’s Herald Sun.

 

Outstanding Contribution to Journalism – Sue Spencer – a pioneering documentary maker and executive producer of the ABC’s Four Corners program for over seven years. 

 

Public Service Journalism – Mary Fallon, Anne Connolly and Patricia Drum – Four Corners/ABC TV/ABC Digital –Who Cares?

 

Short Feature Writing – Mick Barnes – Good Weekend/The Sydney Morning Herald – Counting Down the Days in God’s Waiting Room

 

Sports Journalism – Nigel Gladstone and Malcolm Knox – The Sun-Herald, Caught Out: Cricket’s Inflated Player Numbers Revealed

 

TV/Video News Reporting – Seven News Sydney, Sydney Stabbing Rampage

 

TV/Video Current Affairs – Dylan Welch, Janine Cohen, David Maguire, Suzanne Dredge – Four Corners/ABC TV – Orphans of ISIS

 

Scoop Of The Year – Al Jazeera Investigations Unit/Al Jazeera Media Network – How to Sell a Massacre

 

And finally, another great reason to contemplate online journalism courses … they’ll teach you to write award-winning headlines as entertaining as this … 

Headline, Caption or Hook – Baz McAlister – The Courier-Mail – Halal… Is it Meals You’re Sooking For?

 

Learn to write right in this highly competitive field! Our Certificate of Journalism will give you all the tools you need to conceptualise, write quickly and succinctly and access a wide range of useful industry contacts.