How to write for The Conversation

This course introduces you to journalistic writing. It covers the key differences between writing for the media and academic writing, and why you need to consider your audience if you are to write successfully for a non-academic reader. It will help you generate ideas for articles rooted in your research and expertise and give you an insight into how editors at The Conversation commission. By the end of the course, you will have the tools to write a short article.

Who this course is for:

Academics, PhD candidates and researchers affiliated with institutions that are members of The Conversation and would like to develop journalistic skills to write a short article for The Conversation.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Explain the difference between journalistic and academic writing

• Identify the audience you are writing for and explain why it’s important

• Recognise what makes a good story and develop a range of story ideas from your academic research

• Write and edit an article using a journalistic writing style

This course is led by:

Dale Berning Sawa

Cities + Society Editor

Dale is a freelance features writer (The Guardian, the Times, the Art Newspaper, the Economist, the Quietus, Elephant) covering culture, lifestyle, tech, society and more. She previously worked as commissioning editor on the arts and lifestyle desks at the Guardian.

Pauline McCallion

Senior Business Editor

Pauline has been a journalist for 18 years, mostly writing about business and finance. After covering the impact of the global financial crisis on UK consumers, she moved to the US in 2008 to write about financial regulation, risk management and energy trading. She is now based in Northern Ireland and joins The Conversation UK after a decade as a freelance writer and editor.

Steven Vass

Business + Economy Editor

Steven Vass joined The Conversation in February 2014 after nearly 10 years at the Sunday Herald, first as media correspondent and then as deputy business editor, where he wrote about most aspects of business but particularly energy, the economy and the financial crisis. He previously spent several years as a VSO volunteer in Zambia and several more as a media analyst in London.

Holly Squire

Special Projects Editor

Holly joined The Conversation at the start of 2015 from a background in broadcast journalism and magazine publishing having previously worked at the BBC as a journalist and researcher in radio and television. Holly regularly contributes to The Conversation's podcast The Anthill.

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