Skip Journalism School: 50 Free Open Courses

Nicole White:

Ambitious journalists don’t have to worry about affording extra education when free open courses are available for anyone to take online. Spend some time studying and exploring the various aspects of journalism with these classes before forging your own future as a journalist. These courses will help you learn about writing, reporting, photojournalism, multimedia, and more.

Writing, Reporting, and Communication From improving your grammar to learning to connect with other cultures to strengthening communication skills, these classes will improve your ability to connect with others.

  1. Cleaning Your Copy. Learn to correct your grammar, spelling, and stylistic mistakes with the information in this class specifically for aspiring journalists. [News University]
  2. BBC News Style Guide. This class covers the style guide used at BBC News to help writers become more effective writers. [BBC Training & Development]
  3. Writing and Experience: Culture Shock! Writing, Editing, and Publishing in Cyberspace. Explore American pop culture while learning to write for an online audience in this course. [MIT]
  4. Beat Basics and Beyond. Find out the basics about working a beat and get tips from veteran reporters in this course. [News University]
  5. Technology for Professional Writers. This course teaches important technology skills for writers who may not have a background in technology. [Utah State University]