Saving people, fish and Alpine snow: Our story contest winners

Saving people, fish and Alpine snow: Our story contest winners

For the 14th News Decoder Storytelling Competition, the winning stories tackled human trafficking, river conservation and climate change. In its first year of working with News Decoder, the Tatnall School in the U.S. state of Delaware took both first and second prizes...

Capturing news with a camera is not a snap

Capturing news with a camera is not a snap

Photojournalists tell stories through images. To do that they have to get into the thick of it. A man is arrested during the protests against the government of President Dina Boluarte in Lima, Peru on 4 February 2023. Credit: Alfonso Silva-Santisteban.  This article...

Telling stories through photos doesn’t require an expensive camera and decades of experience. Students can be photojournalists too — so long as they’re prepared and know what makes an effective photo. In this piece, correspondent Norma Hilton covers tips for capturing news with a camera, while staying safe. 

Exercise: Read the article with your class, then have students compile a list of photojournalism tips from the text. With these tips in mind, students will then go out into the local community to take photos of a newsworthy event (e.g. a student rally, school football game, mayoral debate, city council meeting, etc.). Can students capture an effective photo that tells a story? As an extension of this exercise, students can put together a photo essay and pitch their story to us for a chance to be published on our global news site.

Journalism in the future will be different

Journalism in the future will be different

We had four students ask questions of three journalists in a live webinar to examine the state of journalism. Together they peered into the future.  A robotic sports reporter files copy for the New York Times in the year 2035. Photo illustration by News Decoder....

Why don’t you rephrase that

Why don’t you rephrase that

First impressions are important. But with writing, the second draft is better. It helps to have an editor but sometimes you need to take on that role yourself. An editor has tightened up Shakespeare’s “To be or not to be” monologue. Illustration by...

Journalism