With truth-seeking and holding power to account more necessary than ever before, there is no better time to act on your curiosity about a career in journalism. Whether you’re interested in pursuing a story for an investigation, you believe in the potential for opinion pieces to shift the status quo, or you simply want to refine your writing skills, this is a masterclass you ought not to miss.

Led by leading Guardian writers, this workshop will demystify an industry that can appear at times closed-off or complicated. Gain advice on everything from story-seeking, writing and interviewing, as well as how to pitch your ideas to editors.

Over the course of the day, you will have plenty of opportunity to put your questions directly to our journalists, and also be given the option to submit a piece of written work for review ahead of the class.

“...very engaging, especially with anecdotes from their own personal experiences. I do a masters in journalism and still managed to pick up lots of useful tips I'd not heard before!

Course Content

Introduction: the Guardian’s senior editor of diversity and development Joseph Harker will introduce you to the key principles of journalism, the differences between news stories, features and opinion pieces, and how the Guardian’s editorial code underpins our journalism.
How to get started: this session will focus on where and how to find ideas for starting to write a piece, an overview of good writing techniques and practises and how to start developing your own style.
Digital journalism: the Guardian’s Europe correspondent, Jon Henley, will teach you how to effectively utilise social media to source and tell stories and how the evolving digital landscape is shaping the future of journalism.
Investigative journalism: reporter and author of The Windrush Betrayal, Amelia Gentleman will explain how to perform extensive and critical research and build this into an investigation, along with the ethical considerations of breaking a story.
How to interview: features writer Simon Hattenstone will discuss the techniques for carrying out a successful interview, from getting people to agree to dealing with difficult subjects.
Pitching to editors: learn how to write the perfect pitch as Joseph Harker details the common pitfalls and mistakes he sees, and will teach you how to avoid them and shed light on what editors are looking for.

This course is for ...

Anyone looking for insights into best writing practices and would like to develop their skills in journalism.
Anyone who wants to know what editors are looking for and how to craft a compelling pitch.

Tutor Profile

Joseph Harker is the Guardian's senior editor, diversity and development. He is a former editor and publisher of the weekly newspaper, Black Briton.

Jon Henley is a senior Guardian writer, responsible for the Guardian’s acclaimed series Greece on the breadline, the multi-award-winning multimedia interactive Firestorm, and a range of feature articles that won him a nomination for UK Feature writer of the year. Over his 25-year career at the Guardian, Jon has reported from more than 30 countries and five continents. He is currently based in Paris as Europe correspondent.

Amelia Gentleman is a reporter for the Guardian. She was named journalist of the year in 2018 for her investigations into the Windrush scandal, and also won the Paul Foot award, the Cudlipp award and an Amnesty prize for the reporting. Previously she won the Orwell prize for political journalism, and feature writer and specialist writer of the year at the British press awards. Her book The Windrush Betrayal, Exposing the Hostile Environment was shortlisted for the 2020 Orwell book prize. Amelia previously reported from Paris and Moscow for the Guardian and from Delhi for the New York Times.

Simon Hattenstone is a Guardian feature writer and interviewer. He also occasionally writes books, including his memoir Out Of It, and has ghost-written books for snooker world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan and Duwayne Brooks, the friend of Stephen Lawrence who was attacked with him.

Course Details

Date: Saturday 15 January 2022
Time: 2pm-5.30pm (GMT)

2pm BST | 3pm CEST | 6am PDT | 9am EDT

This masterclass is available globally. If you are joining us from outside the United Kingdom, please use this time zone converter to check your local live streaming time.

You will be sent a link to the webinar two hrs before the start time. Please email masterclasses@theguardian.com if you have not received the access link within one hour of the scheduled start time.

All Guardian Masterclasses are fully accessible but please contact us at masterclasses@theguardian.com if you have any queries or concerns.

Full course and returns information on the Masterclasses website

Everything you need to know about journalism, taught by Guardian writers