The Commonwealth Press Union (CPU) has announced its latest online training courses, one on newsroom management and one about Basic Journalism and Ethics. CPU began its online classes in 2003 for people in developing countries of the Commonwealth.

Realizing that Internet speeds for these students were relatively slow, CPU keeps the classes mostly text-based with "interactive exercises that can easily be brought to the screen and then saved to disk or printed out."

The Newsroom Management class will run from 6 November 2006 to 9 February 2007 an it's goals will be to:

• train newsroom managers
• improve news gathering and reporting
• teach newsroom managers to recognise the important issues such as those covered by the UN Millennium Development Goals
• make managers aware of journalistic ethics and how these link with issues such as open democracy and good governance
• encourage accurate and responsible reporting
• give the general public unbiased information
• educate the public

Basic Journalism and Ethics will run from 6 November 2006 to 12 January 2007 and will cover:

• What makes news - and what makes a good reporter - how to find the angles that makes stories interesting
• News writing - hook the readers with beautifully crafted intros and well constructed stories
• Researching and interviewing - how to ask the right questions and get contacts to talk openly
• Covering incidents, politics - trick of the trade for specialist reporting
• Basic photography and basic sub-editing - how to take pictures editors want to use plus an insight into what sub-editors are looking for in reporters' copy
• Writing features, reviews, comment, and writing for the web - build your versatility by learning techniques for different types of journalism
• Ethics and the role of newspapers, plus other things reporters need to know - the moral, political and business background to journalism

See CPU's website for more information.

Source: CPU