Wikinews:Spread Wikinews/students
Model letter
editFeel free to edit, or use however you want.
We would like to invite you to be involved in a new form of journalism
Citizen journalism is a growing phenomenon of grassroots participation in the media. Wikinews, a sister project to the highly successful Wikipedia, gives you the chance to be both writer and editor of the news you think should have a wider audience.
Wikinews has a strict neutral point of view policy, rigorously enforced by its users. It strives to meet traditional reporting standards and all reports must be fully sourced. This makes it an ideal training ground: here you won't be rewriting press releases or covering the local flower show but can wade straight into breaking scandal on a world level with an audience of thousands.
One thing you won't get on Wikinews is a byline. Your work could be ruthlessly re-edited and your reward will be satisfaction in a good story rather than cash. But your work will be freely available to anyone in the world with a computer, you won't be exploited by a commercial organisation selling news like peas and you will be working towards telling the truth as you see it with a team of thousands.
So if you don't get a byline, what do you get? Well, these skills won't do your career prospects any harm:
- news writing
- high standards to fulfill of source recording and note taking for original reporting
- proofreading and copy editing
- fact checking
- direct involvement in media production processes
- writing and enforcing high standards of neutrality in reporting
- teamwork with a wide range of contributors worldwide in a consensual environment
- strategy and policy development for an international media outlet
- basic programming syntax of a widely used online system
Starting at Wikinews is easy. Just create an account and a community member will give you some tips - or if you can't wait that long: hit edit and get going.
Love,
the Wikinews community
Printable Version
editA printable PDF version with the Wikinews header is available here Note there is a slight variation in the text between PDF file and this version.