Top Tips: Can you find a news story?

Top Tips: Can you find a news story?

There are all kinds of interesting things happening around us and all kinds of interesting people. Turning them into news stories is a skill. A reporter tries to find news stories by calling around. (Illustration by News Decoder) Journalism and activism can be...

The pen might be mighty, but in war it isn’t much protection

The pen might be mighty, but in war it isn’t much protection

With the 156,000 allied troops who came ashore at Normandy on D-Day were 500 news reporters armed only with pens, paper, cameras and recording equipment. While hundreds of others move towards the beach in landing craft, American assault troops, with full equipment,...

Accompanying the 156,000 allied troops who came ashore at Normandy on D-Day were 500 news reporters armed only with pens, paper and recording equipment. Correspondent Tira Shubart looks at what it was like to be a war reporter in 1944.

Exercise: Read the article and discuss the dangers journalists faced in the Second World War, the reasons why they chose to report and the difficulties they might have had in reporting. Imagine you are a WWII reporter. Write a journal entry describing a snapshot of what you experienced on a given day. For inspiration, search for photos or articles by Robert Capa, Martha Gellhorn or Lee Miller and use them as a starting point. Think about what happened before and after the article or photo. Keep in mind how the events you experienced had wider, cross-border importance and how your chosen event impacted the world.

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