Intermediate · 4 lessons · about 30 min · free certificate

AI for journalists

A practical course on using AI for background research, transcription help, document triage and headline work, while protecting sources, verifying everything and following newsroom ethics.

For: Reporters, editors, producers and student or freelance journalists.

Start lesson 1

When you finish

  • You can sort reporting tasks into what AI drafts, what it assists, and what stays with you.
  • You can use AI to prepare for interviews, organize documents and tighten copy without handing over judgment.
  • You can verify claims, quotes and images, and catch invented sources.
  • You can protect confidential sources, unpublished material and people named in stories.
  • You can follow a 30-day plan and discuss AI use openly with editors and audiences.

Lessons

Final exam and certificate

8 questions. Score 7 or more for a free certificate of completion you can share and add to LinkedIn. Unlimited tries.

Take the final exam

Prompts you can use today

Copy one, replace the [brackets] with your details, and paste it into the AI tool you use. Leave out anything private.

Prepare for an interview

I am interviewing [role, e.g. a city water engineer] about [topic] for a [outlet type]. Suggest twelve questions, from background to hard follow-ups. Mark which ones may need documents to check the answer. I will do my own research on the person.

Explain a technical topic

Explain [topic, e.g. how a municipal bond works] to a reporter with no background. Give a plain definition, three terms I must understand, three common misunderstandings, and what questions an expert would ask. I will verify with primary sources.

Organize a document set

I have a set of public documents (not confidential). Here are their titles and my notes: [paste]. Suggest a way to organize them by theme and date, a timeline of events I should confirm, and gaps where I need more records.

Check my story for gaps

Read this draft as a skeptical editor. List claims that need a source, places where an opposing view is missing, loaded words, and anything that could mislead. Do not rewrite. [paste draft with no confidential details]

Headline options

Give me eight headlines for this story that are accurate, specific and free of exaggeration. Flag any that overstate the facts. [paste summary]

Plain-language rewrite for a broad audience

Rewrite this paragraph at a reading level suitable for a general audience, keeping every fact, name and number unchanged. List any word you changed that might alter the meaning. [paste paragraph]

Fact-check list

From this draft, list every name, title, date, number, quote and claim that must be verified, with the kind of source that would confirm it. Do not say whether any are true. [paste draft]

Translate for a source

Translate these interview questions into [language] in a polite, simple style. Then list any phrase that may be ambiguous so I can check it with a native speaker or interpreter. [paste questions]

Ask the AI tutor

Ask anything about this course, in any language. The tutor is an AI: it can be wrong, and it never needs your personal details.

AI-drafted. Checked by an automated validator and a separate AI reviewer; a person has not read every lesson. Translations and tutor answers are AI-made. Found a mistake? Tell us. Tool facts last checked November 2026; features change, so check the product's own help pages. AI can be wrong. General information, not professional advice. Product names identify the tools taught; no affiliation or endorsement. Current University is not accredited; certificates of completion are not degrees, credit or licenses.