Exeter Observer offers free community journalism training courses designed to help potential contributors quickly develop core journalism skills and produce publication quality content, with support from our experienced editorial team.
We also offer complementary workshops on specialist topics including how to use Freedom of Information requests and other transparency legislation to hold local institutions to account.
The next training course will take place this autumn in a large, well-ventilated city centre venue which enables effective indoor social distancing.
It will be accessible, practical and built around participants working up several short pieces over a few weeks and learning from each other along the way.
We will publish more details about the course and workshops, including dates and times, in the next few weeks.
In the meantime if you’d like to be considered for a place please drop us a line to express your interest and we’ll take it from there.
Contribute to Exeter Observer
Exeter Observer welcomes contributions from aspiring or experienced writers, editors, photographers and film makers who want to help create and deliver our independent public interest community journalism.
We offer support to help regular contributors develop story ideas, learn core journalism skills and gain confidence.
If you are interested in holding wealth, power and influence to account and are prepared to put time into reporting on issues that matter to local people then we’d like to hear from you.
Please see our guide to pitching a story and take a look at the guides we have produced to help potential contributors on the journey from novice reporter to seasoned feature writer.
Contributor guides
- News writing
- News brief
- What is news?
- Objectivity, neutrality, impartiality & balance
- Style
- Multimedia collateral & copyright
- Sources & interviews
- Subediting
- Feature writing
- Research resources
- Local government transparency & information access rights
- Data protection & media law
- Digital information and communications security
Topic notes
These cover specific local, subregional and regional public interest issues in depth to help contributors better understand policy and practice in and around Exeter.
- Exeter regional democracy & governance
- Exeter regional planning & place
- Exeter regional transport & mobility
More topic notes are coming soon. These will cover Exeter regional arts & culture, climate & environment, economy & enterprise, education & skills and health & wellbeing.
