Journalism Education
Using journalism education materials produced by staff members at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, journalism students will be able to hone their reporting and editing skills. They will learn tips about interviewing, writing news stories, editing copy, conforming to style as well as different approaches and techniques for journalists.

» Download A Guide for Young Reporters and Editors PDF - 518k (Adobe Acrobat needed)

Additional NIE Plans, Including Media Literacy

More Ideas for Using the Newspaper > Newspaper Knowledge

1. According to the index, what pages are the following found on: classified ads, sports, editorials, local news, weather, the crossword puzzle?

2. Find the following information: the telephone number would you call and the starting weekly cost for a home delivered subscription to The Times-Dispatch. The name of the editor and publisher of The Times-Dispatch. A comic strip showing a working woman. The score from a local sporting event. The names of three wire services used by The Times-Dispatch.

3. Clip and label an example of each of the following: index, byline, cutline, dateline and headline.

4. Find a newspaper article that is about each of the following: a meeting of a government agency, a press conference, a disaster or unexpected happening, the schools.

5. Find five stories from different cities in Virginia. Then find five stories different states and five stories from different countries. Locate each of these cities, states and countries on a map.

6. Project yourself into societies in which there are no newspapers. Make a list of all the functions provided by the newspaper, including such things as providing news, serving as an advertising medium, social announcements, upcoming events, critical reviews, etc. How would each of these functions be met in a newspaperless society?

7. Scan The Times-Dispatch and name some of the beats covered by reporters. If you were a reporter, what beat would you like to cover and why?

8. Make a chart showing examples of the vocabulary variations that appear in different sections of the newspaper. For instance, the jargon used by the food editor and sports editor would probably be quite different.

9. In The Times-Dispatch, find examples of editorials that are written to: inform the reader, interpret the news for the reader, entertain the reader, and influence the reader.

10. Use the classified section to buy materials or hire services to help you cross the following barriers: a snake pit, a barbed wire fence, a 10 foot wall, a 20 foot deep moat with snapping crocodiles, an angry giant. Compare your selected products and services with your classmates.

*Ideas compliments of the Newspaper Association of America Foundation