Real-life journalism - one-day course

This 'real-life' journalism course will help both freelancers and staff writers who want to learn all the practical skills required to put together real-life features and news, including how to find 'real' interviewees and stories, how to sell them, interviewing and writing techniques, and the common issues, legalities and pitfalls.

***We are currently not taking bookings for this course, if you are interested in attending please contact Ed Martin at ed@journalism.co.uk or by calling 01273 384 293***

Course tutors: Olivia Gordon and Johanna Payton

Date: TBC
Time: 10.00-17.00
Venue: Friends Meeting House
Number of places: 8
Cost: £200 (+£30 VAT).

Do you know how and where to find a strong real life story? Do you know how to avoid all the pitfalls?

Writing real life is famously well-paid and still flourishing despite the credit crunch, and is a must for anyone wishing to work regularly for consumer and women's pages - but it's also one of the hardest and most skilled areas of journalism.

Without the know-how, it's almost impossible to know where to start when you're asked for a strong case study, or which magazines and papers want what sort of story - and it's all too easy to come unstuck when it comes to handling difficult issues that crop up: working with exclusives, PRs and charities, dealing with identification, libel and photography, managing editors' expectations and those of interviewees unfamiliar with speaking to the media, payment for interviewees, and readbacks. Learning the skills of case study journalism gives any journalist a competitive advantage.

While aimed entirely at journalists, the course has also been popular with press officers who work with 'real' case studies and want to learn how to place them successfully with editors and journalists, and understand a journalist's point of view.

This course will provide you with:

• An overview of the whole real life/case study process from finding and placing stories to interviewing and writing;
• The practical resources and techniques needed to work successfully long-term with real life stories, interviewees and case studies.

Practical examples will include:

• Invaluable contacts, resources and skills to use when tracking down people in the news or searching for case studies/interviewees to fit an editor's brief;
• Placing stories - who wants them; typical fees; which comes first, the story or the feature idea;
• Real life practice and ethics: for example, anonymity; whether to pay case studies; if and when to do readbacks; rights to reply; plugs for companies and working with third parties; other responsibilities such as sourcing collects;
• Troubleshooting: for example, distinguishing good stories and fakers; what if you can't find a case study; dealing with difficult interviewees/editors;
• Interviewing and writing techniques specific to real life and case studies.

About Olivia Gordon

Olivia Gordon cut her journalistic teeth as a features writer on women's magazine Real. As a successful freelance journalist for the last four years, she has written for the Times, Telegraph, Guardian/Observer, Independent, Mail and Express, and contributed to newspaper weekend supplements like Stella, Style and Observer Woman. She has written for magazines including Red, She, Grazia, Prima, Woman's Own, Essentials, Cosmo Bride, Closer, Real People, Real, First, Shape, The Knitter and New Woman. She is also a published author, has a broad portfolio of copywriting and editing clients, and does the occasional in-house writing/editing shift for magazines, as well as regular online and customer journalism.

About Johanna Payton

Johanna Payton has specialised in real life journalism since 2001 when she launched her freelance career with regular stories in teen magazine Sneak and the teenage section of BBC Online. Her real life stories and case study-led features have since appeared in national newspapers and magazines including Grazia, Take a Break, Love It!, Observer Woman, The Times/Sunday Times Style, Daily Express, The People, Sunday Mirror, My Weekly, More!, Woman’s Own, Practical Parenting, Maternity&Infant and Essentials. Johanna also writes real life-led advertorial features for clients including IPC Media and Guardian Creative.

Book now

To book your place now and pay using debit/credit card, please click here.

To book your place now and be invoiced for the amount, please click here (NB you will still be required to complete payment IN ADVANCE of the course date).

Testimonials

"Thanks for an extremely interesting and useful day. An excellent course provided by two very interesting and informative people. It covered all the things I wanted it to." Rachel Potter

"The course was great – very practical and illuminating. I particularly liked the way you generously provided examples from your own experiences. That was really helpful for me and I came away feeling that all my questions had been answered." Karen McKibbin

"To sub a heartfelt story to reasonable length, this course was easily worth the fee, the return flight from Dublin, the hotel - all three." Simon Walsh

"A fantastic course. Jo and Olivia’s approach was friendly and informative and their handouts comprehensive. I’m just starting out in freelance journalism and I very much appreciated their honest and realistic presentation of the way this branch of the media works. They were very down-to-earth and their love of what they do shone through.  I thought the course was great from start to finish. I’ve often thought that this sort of journalism was effectively closed to those who haven’t worked on consumer titles. But Jo and Olivia have changed my view. They gave great advice, were inspiring and encouraging and, most of all, clearly loved what they do and were very happy to share their insider knowledge. They were more than happy to answer any questions we had. Also they were honest about their own occasional frustrations about the way it all works, which I appreciate and respect. But the message throughout the day was: real life is fun!" Sally Gillen

"It was a superb course as the tutors were very helpful and provided us with everything we needed to know about real life journalism. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to venture into this field." Keren Sall

"Thanks again for the brilliant course! I thought the day was really well planned and structured, very thorough, and interesting at all times. Nice friendly environment - much more engaging than being lectured to. I liked that fact that there weren't too many of us, and that we sat around the table so the whole day was more of a discussion than a lecture. Everyone was encouraged to contribute and share experiences. It was great to have such detailed hand-outs at the end, so I didn't have to worry about writing notes throughout. You provided lots of helpful tips that you don't get from more general training - it was a bit more personal. And there was a lot of opportunity to ask questions. It's really helped me structure my pitches and I feel like I understand the journalists who commission real-life pieces much better now." Gabriella Joswiak

"Useful, in that it gave me some pointers as to where to find case studies; how to deal with real life editors; and how to handle interviewees re fees, etc. Very good style and pitch. If ever I am asked to find a transsexual Ecuadorian with 7 children all of whom were breastfed to the age of 22 I will think of J and O!" Julie Bindel

"I found it really interesting and useful." Emily Hassall