"Before Your Byline" was built by a 20-year student media veteran to save your student newsroom energy, time and money. It trains newsroom newcomers on the fundamentals so your team can focus on what's important to them.
Five critical pillars — newsgathering, interviewing, story structure, media law and ethics — covered in just one hour.
Track student progress — request a completion report anytime.
Replace time-consuming, patchwork training with one comprehensive baseline course.
"Before Your Byline" was built with accessibility at its core. All video content includes closed captions, with additional accessibility features in production. View our Accessibility Commitment and Compliance Roadmap.
The introduction and all Chapter 1 lessons are available to preview for free. Click any lesson below to get started.
Chapter 1: Learning Outcomes
FREE PREVIEWChapter 1, Lesson 1: Meet Maya
FREE PREVIEWChapter 1, Lesson 2: What is Journalism?
FREE PREVIEWChapter 1, Lesson 3: How News Values Determine Stories
FREE PREVIEWChapter 1, Lesson 4: Three Ways Journalists Gather News
FREE PREVIEWChapter 1, Lesson 5: Why Accuracy Matters
FREE PREVIEWChapter 1 Quiz: What is News // Newsgathering
FREE PREVIEWChapter 2: Learning Outcomes
Chapter 2, Lesson 1: Interview Anxiety and How to Overcome It
Chapter 2, Lesson 2: Interviewing Basics
Chapter 2, Lesson 3: Putting it into Practice
Chapter 2, Lesson 4: Practice Makes Perfect
Chapter 2, Lesson 5: Skills for Tough Interviews
Chapter 3: Learning Outcomes
Chapter 3, Lesson 1: Journalism as a Writing Style
Chapter 3, Lesson 2: Journalism Writing Fundamentals
Chapter 3, Lesson 3: Three Ideas for Helping Understand Journalism Structure
Chapter 3, Lesson 4: Leads and Nutgraphs, Defined
Chapter 3, Lesson 5: Hard vs. Soft News Structures
Chapter 3, Lesson 6: Endings, Examples and Writing Tips
Chapter 3 Quiz
Chapter 4: Learning Outcomes
Chapter 4, Lesson 1: Pre-publication Legal Review
Chapter 4, Lesson 2: Your Rights to Publish on Campus
Chapter 4, Lesson 3: The Big Legal Issues
Chapter 4, Lesson 4: Getting Granular
Chapter 4, Lesson 5: What to Look Out For
Chapter 4, Lesson 6: Journalists and Law Enforcement
Chapter 4, Lesson 7: Knowing When to Get Help
Chapter 4 Quiz
Chapter 5: Learning Outcomes
Chapter 5, Lesson 1: The Basics of Ethics
Chapter 5, Lesson 2: The Hard and Fast Ethical Rules
Chapter 5, Lesson 3: Common Ethical Dilemmas
Chapter 5 Quiz
"Before Your Byline" is sold as an annual institutional license for $995. You can purchase by credit card directly on this page, or request a formal invoice if your institution requires one. Once payment is received, we'll set up your institution's enrollment link and administrator dashboard. Students can rewatch any lesson at any time during the one-year license period.
If you pay by credit card, you'll receive your institution's enrollment link and administrator dashboard access within 1-2 business days. If you pay by invoice, access is set up once payment clears. We'll email everything to the contact on file.
Your license starts on the date your payment is processed (or a date you specify after payment clears) and remains active for 12 months. Your enrollment link and all student access stay active for the full year.
After your purchase, we'll send your designated administrator a single enrollment link. Students click that link to create a free account and access the course immediately — no individual purchases or codes needed.
No. Your institutional license covers unlimited student enrollments for the duration of your license year.
Yes. Email [email protected] at any time to get a CSV file of your enrollees and their completion level.
Yes. Students automatically receive a certificate of completion once they finish the course, available to download immediately.
Yes. Each chapter includes a quiz to reinforce key concepts. Quiz results are reflected in your administrator's progress dashboard. There is also a final assessment that students must pass before they can get their certificate of completion. They will be given unlimited attempts to pass this quiz.
