9 Best Online Journalism Courses & Classes [Updated June 2023]

 

The first in the list of the best of online journalism course is the specialization journalism Coursera course offered by Michigan State University. This specialization consists of five online journalism training courses that would give you in-depth knowledge of journalism and its prospects. The five courses under this online journalism training and their details are as follows:

 

i. What is News?

This online journalism course lays the foundation in the fundamentals of journalism and what defines news. The journalism classes online cover different kinds of media such as the conventional print, radio and broadcast, and the new media. It also teaches the values and code of ethics in journalism.

 

ii. Gathering and Developing the News

As the name suggests, this online journalism course helps students understand the ways of gathering information from various sources.  It teaches interviewing skills to get the answers to the 5W’s and 1H and research skills to authenticate the information.

 

iii. Effectively Delivering the News to Your Audience

The next step as a journalist is to filter out and process the information to create a news piece. This course describes the different formats of journalistic reporting and the steps of planning a news report. The journalism classes online under the course elaborate on how each form of media caters to a different audience and how the format of the news changes accordingly.

 

iv. Journalism, the Future, and You!

This section of the online journalism course specialization focuses on the future of journalism and the various sectors which require journalistic skills. It also discusses the prospects of being an international correspondent, self-publishing in journalism, and the scope of being a freelancer. The course has been explained in detail in the next listing.

 

v. Capstone: Create Your Own Professional Journalistic Portfolio

The last segment guides you in creating your journalistic portfolio. You will build your news report from scratch under the guidance of the mentors, peers, and the Michigan State Journalism Team. You will also earn a premium ‘Journalism’ badge on the completion of this course that you display on social media.

 

Ranked as a top online journalism course, this specialization has a rating of 4.7 with 8448 students on board. It has been marked as a beginner’s online journalism course that will take approx. six months to complete. You can either study journalism online by opting for one of the courses or take the full specialization. The subscription automatically subscribes you to the entire package with a 7-day full-access free trial. You can also avail of financial aid for these courses. You will be awarded a certificate on completing all the courses and the final project.

 

 

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This online journalism course is the fourth course in the specialization offered by Michigan State University. People planning to study journalism online can subscribe to this course to get a clear picture of the career prospects of taking an online journalism course.

 

A journalist has a moral responsibility of presenting unbiased facts; this course touches on the values and ethics that journalism requires. Also, as a journalist, you will be asked to cover sensitive stories that may require you to lock heads with powerful people who may not be in your favor. The course also teaches how to protect yourself in such situations, how to handle pressure, threats, and dangers.

 

This beginners’ level course will take around 27 hours to complete all the journalism classes online and the practice exercises under each module. One of the best online journalism courses, this journalism Coursera course has a rating of 4.7 and 11,878 students on board.  You will also be provided with a certificate on completion.

 

 

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While supporting a cause, putting across your opinion in the right way through the right channel can make a huge difference. Activists and people who strongly believe in social justice can benefit a lot from this online journalism course. Focused on activism and citizen journalism, this edX journalism course defines the parameters of a newsworthy story and how to pitch it to the right media. The course also teaches ways to assess the impact of your story and how to stay safe and ethical while being a citizen journalist.

 

Mentored and taught by the lecturers of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, this is one of the best online journalism courses in the edX journalism course list.  You can complete your online journalism training in four weeks by dedicating 2-3 hours per week. This again is a beginner course and 6,433 students have already enrolled for it. Though the journalism classes online are for free, you will have to pay a fee to get a certificate of completion.

 

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You need not necessarily own a degree in journalism to become a good writer. This course will cover your basics of journalism and the ways to refine your skills to be a compelling writer.  The 45 journalism classes online in this course have been broadly divided into five modules. The concepts taught under each module are:

• News writing - the 5W’s and 1H, writing news intro and headlines, building your story, and accuracy in news writing
• Interviews – how to plan and set-up interviews, types of interviews, and dealing with off-the-record statements
• Feature Writing – what is a feature, importance of word count, using pictures in a news story, and specialist reporting
• Media Law- basics of media law, right to privacy, slander and libel, defamation, public interest, and courtroom reporting
• Pitching story ideas – whom to pitch to in a publication, adhering to the style guide, and how to make a successful pitch

 

This is a one-time purchase course to study journalism online with lifetime access to the content. Listed as a bestseller online journalism course on Udemy, it has a rating of 4.4 and 1730 students on roll. The course also offers a certificate of completion.

 

 

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Whether you are inclined towards journalism as a career or just wish to understand how it functions, this course takes a holistic approach on how to consume and produce news. Mentored by Dan Rather, one of the most senior journalists in the USA, this online journalism course teaches how to find the truth in a news item.

 

Distributed over four hours and 34 video lectures, some of the other key learning of this online journalism training include:

• The state of journalism today – the role of a free press and current scenario
• How television news changed America – role and impact of media during some historic moments in history
• The art of Interview – interview rules and famous case studies
• Writing and storytelling
• Speaking in public – presenting and speaking to the camera
• Life lessons from Dan

 

You can pay a one-time fee to access these journalism classes online. The course has a rating of 4.5 and has 6518 students enrolled already. You can avail of a certificate of completion at the end of this course.

 

 

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Next in our list is a course designed by the University of Pennsylvania and offered by Coursera. This online journalism training course is tailored for individuals who do not have English as their native language and wish to make a career in modern journalism. The course has been divided into five units or modules that consist of readings as well as video lectures.

 

The first module gives an introduction to journalism, its history, and the principles of journalism. In the second module, you will learn how to do your research, how to take interviews, and how to pitch your story to different media. The third module focuses on the language used in journalism and the different styles of writing for different print formats. The fourth module focuses on broadcast journalism while the last module revolves around new-age media or digital media.

 

This five-week course has been rated a 7.9 out of 10. While everyone undertaking the course receives a Statement on Accomplishment, there is also an option to receive a paid verified certificate. You can avail of financial aid too to undertake this online journalism course.

 

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If you are on a look-out for quick journalism classes online, this is the one to go for. This beginner’s course focuses on writing for print media and also gives a brief on other forms i.e. television, radio, and digital media.

 

This course teaches different kinds of news articles written for print media and elaborates on each writing style. Since journalism is a highly-time driven and serious profession, you will also learn about meeting the deadlines and how to present in the information in the most objective and precise manner. At the end of the course, you will be given a project to identify different kinds of news articles.

 

The journalism classes online in this course have been divided into 11 video lectures that take around 30 minutes to complete. This is one of the best online journalism courses taught in the shortest period. Around 555 students are undertaking the course presently. However, it does not provide any certificate upon completion.

 

 

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Have you ever heard about the Watergate Scandal? If not, just to give you an idea, it was one of the most famous political scandals that occurred in the United States under the presidency of Richard Nixon which later led to his resignation. Bob Woodward, the mentor of this course, and Carl Bernstein were the two journalists who helped uncover a lot of crucial details in this case.  Who else can be a better tutor to teach investigative journalism than him, right?

 

This is one of the best online journalism courses if you are interested in investigative journalism. Bob Woodward, in a series of 24 lectures, will teach you the guiding principles to do unbiased and objective reporting and the factors that make a compelling story.

 

The course in four hours will teach you how to do in-depth reporting, the importance of documentation, finding and growing credible sources. You will learn to prepare and conduct interviews and write your story. At the end of the course, you will have an understanding of new media and how it is changing the journalism dynamics.

 

This is a subscription-based course and does not provide a certificate of completion.

 

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In case you are searching for an online journalism course for free, Alison is offering an online Diploma in Journalism. This too is a beginner course that will ensure an all-round understanding of the field of journalism. With 44,644 students enrolled, this course has been rated 3.5 out of 5.

 

This online journalism course over a period of 10-15 hours has been divided into 13 modules. Some of the key topics covered in this course are:

• Introduction to news and interviews
• Writing features and editorials
• Ethics and media management
• Digital media
• Rights and obligations in journalism
• New media and print journalism

 

The course also contains assessments at different stages to check your progress. You need to score 80% and above in all the assessments to complete the diploma. Though the course is available for free, you will need to pay a fee to acquire a physical diploma.

 

 

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