Journalism basics

Journalism basics

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Authoritarian Interference Tracker
A free, open-source database “that catalogs publicly documented incidents of state-sponsored interference carried out by Russia, China, and Iran in Europe and North America.”

Newsreel
An app that features journalist-written stories every day in a swipeable stack.

Noosphere
A subscription platform for journalists to share their own original reporting with a paying audience in a scrolling, social-media-like format.

Earth Index
Empowering environmental defenders with AI to understand local trends.

SaySo
A personalized news feed from vetted creators.


Editor’s note: Resources for journalism students and others new to the industry. We’ll be expanding this page in the coming weeks, so check back often.

Associated Collegiate Press
Jobs, contests, articles on trends and more for student publications

Broadcast Education Association
Resources, training and awards for educators and students

Online News Association
Resources for journalists with a digital focus. Includes a do-it-yourself custom ethics code.

Radio TV Digital News Association
Research, training and events for broadcast and digital-first students.

National Press Photographers Association
NPPA code of ethics is an industry standard

Student Press Law Center

TrustingNews: Teaching Students to Earn Trust

Division I College Sports FOIA Directory – The Intercollegiate
Public information officers from Division I athletic departments

ProPublica 527 Explorer
Every year, hundreds of millions of dollars flow through political organizations known as 527s. These organizations are not regulated by the Federal Election Commission and are not subject to FEC-style restrictions on who can contribute or how much they can give, though donations are not tax deductible. These groups are spending more and more, topping $1 billion in 2022. Use our database to explore who funds these organizations and how they’re spending the money.

News Media Tracker | Pew Research Center

Nieman Lab: 2025 Journalism Projectctions

GIJN Guide to Investigative Journalism

AP’s Investigation into the Federal Bureau of Prisons

Journalism.co.uk: Tools for Journalists: Missing Perspectives Directory, for Connecting Newsrooms with Women

Journalist’s Resource: Academic Journals That Give Journalists Free Access

National Security Archives

Tipsheet for Using Ocean Data in Your Investigations

Introduction to Investigative Journalism: Finding Sources and Backgrounding People, Public Records, Freedom of Information

ProPublica: Our Reporters Reached Out for Comment. They Were Accused of Stalking and Intimidation.

ProPublica: Trump’s War on Measurement Means Losing Data on Drug Use, Maternal Mortality, Climate Change and More

Nieman Lab 2026 Prediction: Sorry, the Explainer Article is Dead

MuckRock: Guide to Requesting Text Messages in Public Records Requests
Also: An excellent story on how a reporter used them in a story.

Authoritarian Interference Tracker
A free, open-source database “that catalogs publicly documented incidents of state-sponsored interference carried out by Russia, China, and Iran in Europe and North America.”

Journalism + Design
A lab at The New School dedicated to nurturing a resilient free press for the future. Through partnerships, public curricula and hands-on mentorship we build pathways for more people to participate in their local news ecosystems.

Style Guide for Covering Communities of Color
Newsrooms can produce culturally competent copy with a single prompt now that The Pivot Fund has uploaded the publicly available style guides of the leading journalism diversity organizations into popular AI tool ChatGPT.

Freedom Forum First Amendment Glossary

PublicRecords Online Directory
Good first-stop in records searching.

American Archive of Public Broadcasting
Digitized more than 7,000 public radio and television programs from 1940 to the present. It’s a treasure trove of historic newsreels, interviews, speeches, and more.

Ground News
Shows news outlets cover the same story across the political spectrum

 The Flip Side
Chooses a topic and highlights commentary from liberal and conservative media perspectives.

GIJN: Investigative Reporting for College Students

OSINVGPT
Helps you pursue open-source investigations.

Twipe: 10 Ways Journalists Use AI in the Newsroom

The Accountability Project
Curates, standardizes and indexes public data to give journalists, researchers and others a simple way to search across records.

GIJN Guide to Investigating Disability Issues
Links to databases, tipsheets and more.

USA Facts
Hundreds of government-generated data and fact sheets about many issues: crime, business, public safety, etc.

OpenPayrolls – The Largest Nationwide Salary Database

Syracuse University: Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC)

Clery Center for Security on Campus
Campus crime data and compliance information.

US Dept. of Education: Campus Safety and Security
Download nationwide campus crime data.

BillTrack50
AI-powered resource for finding and tracking legislation in the US. Free with paid upgrades. Built by Stanford’s Big Local News.

National Center for Education Statistics Data Center
Nationwide data on colleges and universities.

A Journalist’s Guide to Digital Security Risk Assessment
An excellent guide from the Freedom of the Press Foundation

Guide to Teaching Journalism Online
Buy the text or read it for free online

Factiverse
Power your stories with credible sources

Press Freedom Watch
An ongoing catalog of federal government actions affecting journalists.

Journalism Crossroads
Produced by NYU, this massive site collects nearly 40 “as told to” stories representing career blueprints from a wide range of US-based media professionals.

ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database
Find out who’s behind more than 810,000 offshore companies, foundations and trusts from the Pandora Papers, Paradise Papers, Bahamas Leaks, Panama Papers and Offshore Leaks investigations.

Northdata
Database that helps you track European companies

NewsGuard
Transparent reliability ratings for news and information sources. It also does this for AI tools.

Newsreel
An app that features journalist-written stories every day in a swipeable stack.

Noosphere
A subscription platform for journalists to share their own original reporting with a paying audience in a scrolling, social-media-like format.

Earth Index
Empowering environmental defenders with AI to understand local trends.

SaySo
A personalized news feed from vetted creators.

Chronicle of Higher Education: Tracking Sexual Assault Investigations

TrollBusters: Staying Safe Online and Offline (Student Edition)

Campus Weblines: Journalism Ethics

AP Style Exercises Online


REPORTING RESOURCES

How to Tell Good Research from Bad: 13 Questions Journalists Should Ask
Great tipsheet from Harvard’s Journalist’s Resource.

Inteltechniques.com
Track people down through their Facebook ID.

How Americans View Journalists in the Digital Age

GIJN Top Investigative Tools of 2024

Journalism.co.uk: Tools for Journalists: Missing Perspectives Directory, for Connecting Newsrooms with Women

The Journalist’s Resource: 3 Tips to Build Rapport with Distrustful Resources

Journalist’s Resource: Diversify Your Sources With This Guide to Nursing Specialty Groups

The Open Notebook: Reporting Without Phone or Internet Access

IJNET: Tips for Journalists Working Outside of Major Cities

IJNET: Nine Remote Interviewing Tips

Dart Center: Do Interviewees Fully Understand What They Signed Up For?

The Art of the Confrontational Interview

Syllabus Maker Pro
An excellent syllabus-making Custom GPT from CUNY’s Jeremy Caplan


EDITING AND FACT-CHECKING

Verification Handbook (second edition)
From Craig Silverman, this guide gives you tools to verify digital content for emergency coverage.

Google Fact Check Explorer
Look up fact-checks by topic and reverse image search photos.

ACES
ACES: The Society for Editing offers editing tips, tools, language quizzes, headline writing exercises and more.

Help Every Reporter Out
A good sourcing tool from the people who created the defunct Help a Reporter Out (HARO).

Citizen Media Law Project Legal Guide

The Elements of Style

Quillbot Paraphraser

Conscious Style Guide

CUNY: Fact-Checking, Verification and Fake News Guide

GIJN: How to Spot Deep Fake Videos

ICFJ: A Short Guide to the History of “Fake News” and Disinformation

TinEye
Reverse image search to fact-check images

High School Press Central
A platform dedicated to supporting student journalists by providing editorial resources, newsroom management tools, and strategies for strengthening school publications. It helps student-run newspapers improve their reporting, engage their readership, and navigate challenges like press freedom and administrative oversight. Through practical guides and community-driven support, HSPC empowers young journalists to produce impactful, high-quality journalism.

Poynter: Fact-Checking How-to Guides

FactCheck.org

Craig Silverman’s Verification and Digital Investigations Resources

Bellingcat: Beginner’s Guide to Social Media Verification

ScamSearch
Global scam database

National Airspace Systems Status
This database tracks flight status and airport closures around the country.

NABJ Style Guide