Anti*Capitalist Resistance wants to encourage new writing for its increasingly popular website. So we are organising an online journalism school for activists, hopefully the first of a series. Everyone is welcome – even if you plan to write for other websites!

Our focus this time will be writing good copy. We will look at form – choosing titles and standfirsts, the length and structure of sentences, paragraph breaks, use of subheads and pull-quotes, etc – and at content – how you grab the reader with a good lead, how you hold the reader, how you balance reportage and analysis, how you use interview quotes, etc. We will look at both short reports on events and longer analysis articles.

Don’t worry. We are not planning a grammar lesson! The emphasis will be on style and content. And though led by experienced editor-writers, writers, journalists and facilitated by A*CR website editor Simon Pearson, the school will be participatory and practical. In addition to looking at examples of good and bad writing, there will be both short exercises during the sessions and one long exercise to be attempted during an extended break.

We have added two additional facilitators to the course, amazing activist writers Tansy Hoskins (author and journalist) and Marienna (Mya) Pope-Weidemann (author and journalist) who will be joining Rowan Fortune and Dave Kellaway from the Anti*Capitalist Resistance Editorial Board.

Introduction to Journalism School 11:00 (40 Minutes)

How to Write 

Good & Bad Writing (30 Minutes)

Lunch / Exercises 13.00-14.30

Prompts:

Ideas for website

News stories

Bring your own ideas

Session 2: 14.30-16.00 

Presentation and critical review of student exercise

Report back / summary of lessons