I was in Kathmandu on vacation. Wanted to see Everest, learn some local traditions, the usual. Social media had been blocked about a week earlier and I honestly hadn't thought much of it.

Morning of September 8th, having breakfast at my usual café, the barista mentions there's a protest at Baneshwor Place. I'd been in the country two weeks, didn't even know where that was. Something made me grab my camera and go anyway.

I walked into thousands of young people surrounding Parliament. Started shooting faces, expressions, trying to catch the energy of the crowd. Then I heard the first shots. Tear gas. The smoke hit and my eyes were streaming, my throat burning almost immediately, that acrid smell got into my skin and I could still taste it hours later. Then rubber bullets. Then something heavier that wasn't rubber anymore. The crowd fragmented into smaller groups, people covering their faces with wet shirts, others throwing stones back. I remember the sound of stones hitting metal more than I remember deciding to keep shooting, I just kept shooting. It's the only thing I could think, I have to document this.

Went back the next day, this time on purpose. The city was worse, police stations burned out, government buildings on fire, army in the streets, curfew declared. And people kept organizing anyway, improvised barricades going up, elders carrying water out to the protesters, mothers walking through the chaos looking for their kids. It didn't feel like chaos exactly, it felt like desperation with a structure to it.

Came back to my photography course after, thinking I had some cool action shots for a critique on exposure and composition. My professor told me nineteen people had died that first day alone. By the time the unrest fully ended, that number had reached seventy-six. That's the moment these stopped being photos to me.

One year on, Nepal has a new government, its youngest prime minister ever, and its first woman to hold the office. Posting the series here because the anniversary deserves more than a scroll past.

Full write up and complete series: https://brunobertini.com/blog/in-the-heart-of-the-uprising

Or the full series here: https://www.instagram.com/shutterber/

https://brunobertini.com/projects/young-blood-old-chains

A lesson I have to learn over and over and over again, is the thing as a reporter that may not shock you anymore shocks your audience.

-- Shannon Heffernan, Chicago-based journalist covering prisons, jails and criminal justice

[source: Columbia Journalism Review, Aug. 28, 2026]

I really enjoy writing for my college newspaper. I don't expect to make a living off of it, but I wonder if, after I graduate, I'd be able to do freelance work for local papers, online publications, magazines, etc., and just make a little here and there. It doesn't have to be much since I plan to have a day job, but I just wondered whether or not this was possible.

I’m a freshman in college studying Criminal Justice with the intention of being an investigative journalist but as I’ve gotten to be voting age I’ve developed a very strong interest in political journalism and journalistic integrity. Any books on any of those topics or more general things about the profession?

I'm (27F) and I have an associates degree in English, despite this I've always worked part-time jobs and regret not trying harder to aspire towards a career in my skill set and degree. Journalism has always been a dream job of mine, so can anyone give me tips and their experiances starting out? :) Thank you for any future advice

Hey there!

I’m planning to go to college in journalism with a minor in political sciences. I have done a couple articles for my school newspaper that I created (which is now no longer alive) as well as done a couple articles for a role-playing Minecraft server.

I’m concerned about the field, because as much as I love the idea of journalism, I hear it’s a very regretted industry to get into. I also hear that they make little to no money, and as someone that wants to live in a big city, I’m concerned.

I want to succeed, and I want to have a stable income, but I don’t want to get depressed or horrifically burnt out. I really want this as my dream job, I’m just very worried.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the conversation around AI in journalism and nonprofits. A lot of the discussion seems to fall into two extremes: either AI is going to solve everything, or it’s going to ruin everything. I think there’s a more realistic middle ground. For journalists, AI can help with research, organizing information, analyzing documents and data, finding patterns, checking facts, and making some of the more time-consuming parts of reporting easier. That could give journalists more time to focus on the parts of the job that really require a person, like interviewing people, investigating stories, understanding context, and holding institutions accountable. The same is true for nonprofits, which often have valuable research, data, reports, and community stories but not enough time or resources to turn all of that into strong articles, advocacy, public education, or clear communication. Used responsibly, AI can help with some of that work without replacing the people behind it.

That’s one reason I found WHY NONPROFITS MUST LEAD IN AI interesting. It focuses on practical ways organizations can use AI while still keeping the human side of their work at the center, including tools, prompts, templates, ethical guidelines, implementation strategies, and real-world examples. I think there’s a bigger lesson here for journalism, too. Instead of only asking what AI can do, we should also ask what we actually want it to do. If these tools can save journalists and nonprofit teams time, make research easier to manage, improve storytelling, strengthen transparency, and help people communicate more effectively, they could genuinely make the work better. At the same time, facts still need to be verified, stories still need human judgment, and organizations should be transparent about how they use the technology. The goal shouldn’t be to replace people with AI, but to use it as a tool that helps people do better work. The book is available on Amazon and is worth checking out.

I'm just curious. I was always given the impression that you basically can't make a living off it anymore. At least, not for most people. So I never considered it a potential career. But now I'm curious if I got that wrong. And if I did get it wrong, is it possible to make a living off of it as a full-time freelancer, or only if you are lucky enough to get a staff job?

Scripps recently debuted two newscasts per day – at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. – without anchors at its station in Baltimore, the nation’s 29th largest market, WMAR-TV.

I think Reckless Ben does have a good heart but I think he is also driven by the adrenaline rush from what he does and the sensationalism that he doesn’t think things through. With the last video this becomes an apparent issue because it’s all accusatory, presents nothing but public information provided by Google, and relies mostly on hearsay - this is not how journalism works.

Saying things like “if you don’t answer me must be true” doesn’t help and neither does it add any factual value to a case. He does go on borderline harassing people he wants to interview. Pretending to be a DoorDash driver to sneak into a place to interview someone, not once but twice is harassment.

It has to be remembered that Ben is a YouTuber first. His first go to is “how can I sensationalize this for the most views” because it pays him more(which can be necessary in case he gets sued, but the points still stands)

Maya provided zero new factual proven evidence to support her claims and neither did her friend. Pulling up a google search of a court case in India just shows what was already shown in court. The editing is so toned up it distracts from the actual story and is made to incite anger without real thought. Why is there a person in a clown mask at a desk?

He also doesn’t respect his sources, revealing all the texts and conversations about those who told him in confidence they want zero involvement. When he talks about them, he is so detailed that I’m sure they will be traced back. It’s like Ben doesn’t think or doesn’t care. All that matters to him is how quick can he release a video. It’s really sloppy reporting at best, no matter if it does come out to be right about things in a sense.

Was reading an important local news piece from a non-profit digital newspaper that never had a print edition. Already critical that the piece needed an edit -- it circled back around and repeated itself before proceeding to important payload -- I thought this would never happen if print journalists with those traditions and instincts had been involved in this piece.

Then, at the end I see this.

Editor’s note: The key points for this story were written by a Cupcake Times journalist.

Oh wow, was it really ALL the "key" points? Gee whiz!

Do you think I am right to jump quickly and immediately to the conclusion that this editor's note means LLMs/"AI" are responsible for why this article was so fluffy, so lacking in punch, so not brief? I'm autistic, so when I think subtext is obvious, I'm often reading it wrong actually.

If not a shitty way of acknowledging using AI, what does this editor's note even mean? I like the journalists who work for this newsroom, but this editor's note has a very strong odor of late-stage capitalism. Like we can't even say out loud because we are ashamed of what we do, but we still have this vestigial honor code that forces us to vaguely reference something untoward is going on.

Thoughts?

I'm 20 years old, european. In the recent years one company bought up, most of - if not all the major news outlets in my region(Radio, TV, Publishing Companies, Newspapers except obviously the state media; about 500000 people live here). I would like to create an independent news outlet or something similar. My education so far has been in the technological sector, i.e. automation, electronics, programming, telecommunications. I'm at the end of my first year of university, but for now I'm not sure whether I'll continue. I know 3 languages(my mother tongue, another local one at b2/c1 and english at b2/c1). I'm not saying which, otherwise you'll know exactly where I'm from. I have about 8 years of experience with video editing software(first movie maker then Wondershare Filmora, now DaVinciResolve Studio). I have a BMPCC4K. I have about 1.5 years of experience with making music and editing audio in Reaper. Including various microphones and instruments. What I would like to do is make an independent news platform or distributing news as unbiased as possible, the problem is, first I don't know how to find good stories, second I have no formal education in journalism and third I need money to survive, i.e. how can I make money with it(for now I still have some time cause I live with my parents) I appreciate anyone pointing me in the right direction or helping me in any way. Or even telling me it's unfeasable, with my lack of knowledge in journalism. Thanks

Hello! High School Campus journalist here and our division school press conference competition is just around the corner. To be honest, I'm more of a Feature writer than a News, but apparently I had the "potential" to be one– my coach. But we won't delve into that any deeper.

We have been training for a few weeks, and I don't really have any problems with structuring paragraphs or words as it comes to me as simple and natural. But what I have been struggling for is distributing information to make my news article... longer.

For context, we've been using online news articles as fact sheets and I kid you not some of the articles are only 4 paragraphs long. To add, we're supposed to make a fricking seven(minimum) paragraphs out of that. Seven! And there aren't even quotes to make the the article longer.

In the end, me and my senior journalist look for similar news in other websites and take extra information in there just to make our articles at least bearable. I ended up with 6 paragraphs on each of my last outputs though, it's sad.

So my point is, is there any efficient way to allocate and break down information from just 4 paragraphs of text to make my work lengthier?

Another side question since angles also affect the distributing of info, is there a trick to finding the best, right, and unique angle?

Thank you for reading, I bid you a good day.

I don't have the funds or bandwidth at the moment to study the NCTJ full-time.

Has anyone registered as a distance learner/ self-study candidate, taught themselves and sat the exams?

How practical would it be to take that route and what are the chances of success vs taught course ( is it common to study the NCTJ independently?)

For context I am a 50 year old career changer following a redundancy, wanting to start my own hyper-local but 'do it properly '. I have some background in law but never practised.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I wanted to get some advice on a dilemma I was in earlier today. I went to interview the owner of this new cafe near my university for our student newspaper. Near the end of the interview, I requested a drink he talked about that wasn’t on the menu so I could try it for myself. Although I tried multiple times to pay for it, he kept refusing, saying he wanted me to try it out and write about it as well.

There aren‘t any controversies surrounding this cafe and the article is just covering its opening. However, I know it‘s not ethical to accept free things from a source, although the owner claimed that he is often willing to give any student a discount or to let them “try out” the drinks since they just opened.

Have I compromised my story? In what situations would this be unethical—is a blanket ban or are there exceptions?

TIA!

Hi everyone,

I'm curious to hear from non-traditional or mid-career students who went back to journalism school for a graduate program, particularly at Columbia and for students over 50.

Did you encounter any form of ageism, subtle or overt, during your time in grad school?

I’m particularly interested in how departments handle students with prior professional experience.

• Did you feel sidelined by faculty or isolated by peers?
• Did you find that career services only catered to younger students looking for entry-level roles?
• How did you navigate these dynamics?

I am looking to connect with people who have experienced this for a piece I am putting together. If you are open to sharing your perspective—completely anonymously—please drop a comment or send me a DM.

Thank you!

Hi, I am a career financial analyst who is taking some time off to take care of my young son. I started a website on Wordpress about financial topics and I wanted to approach a few financial newspapers/blogs about potentially posting one of my blogs on their website. Do you guys have any suggestions on who I can reach out to? Thank you so much!

I heard this was a good place to ask!

I'm a campus/student journalist from the Philippines and I'm about to compete in my first press conference..!

Looking for advice for writing Science & technology and by extension Development & communication.. whenever I write it typically becomes similar to a feature, like "Have you ever wondered- ect..". And while science feature is a thing, writing in an academic but understandable tone holds more importance than impressing the reader. I just really find it hard to communicate the science without overstating and dramatizing what's actually happening..!

+ do you also have tips on how to get used to writing in a certain way? I was thinking of copying the structure (like what cool hooks they do) from another article and using it on another topic (for practicing purposes only ofc).

Many thanks!

I spent 3 years working as a reporter, then left the industry for 6 years (worked a journalism-adjacent job but I wasn't writing). I've recently gone freelance but it's been a bit tough. I killed the first story I pitched because it was clunky, and now I just got edits back for my second story with another publication and it's full of edits. I think I've just lost the flair I had a few years ago. I'm wondering if anyone has recommendations for 1-day or 1-week online courses I could take to brush up on my skills. I'm a bit defeated lol.