BWW: Freelance Journalism is a very practical, hands-on introduction to freelance journalism.
The participants will learn to write pitches, features, profiles, and interviews. 

Who is it targeted at? 
This course is for students and professionals, particularly subject matter experts from other fields. If you are someone interested in a very practical, hands-on course on adopting a journalistic style of writing, or if you are interested in longform, feature writing, and conducting interviews for news and media houses, then this is the course for you.  

What is expected from participants? 
The participants should have a keen interest in reading, writing, and world affairs. You should also have a good grasp of the English language, flawless grammar and spelling skills. This is a moderately intensive course and participants will be expected to put in around 3-5 hours per week besides the three hours in the workshop.  

What are the takeaways? 
This course will train participants to understand and adopt a journalistic style of writing and thinking. You will be equipped with tools and methods for journalistic writing. At the end of the course, you will be able to write reports, features and pitches, conduct interviews, use data and research in your writing, and familiarize yourself with other types of journalistic writing. You will learn how to find ideas, write a great pitch, approach editors, and find ideas and markets both national and international. You will learn how to write features and interviews aimed to be published in news and media outlets. Since this is a very practical course, there's a strong likelihood of getting published during the course itself.  

What is the methodology?
We follow the workshop methodology. There will be discussions and readings relevant to the topics being discussed. You will learn to write pitches, features, profiles, and interviews. The course also includes a module on contacting editors, re-slanting articles, dealing with rejection, understanding ethics, quoting fees, and marketing oneself.

Here is a detailed overview of the course: 

Module 1: Thinking like a journalist  
This module will review the various components that make journalistic writing different and prepare participants to think of their ideas where they have subject matter expertise, in a story format. The participants will be able to identify and compare elements that differentiate journalism from other forms of writing, and also develop a process to create story ideas.  

Module 2: Types of journalism and interviews  
Participants will be able to contrast various types of journalism, and identify the components and processes that differ depending on the same. You will be equipped to design questionnaires, plan, prepare and conduct interviews.  

Module 3: Facts and data  
This module will provide a brief overview of data journalism, and the tools required to do effective data gathering. It will also highlight the developments in the data visualisation landscape. Participants will be able to identify, organise, and interpret some basic data sources, and critically include them in their stories.  

Module 4: Writing like a journalist  
This module will help participants in organising and managing their work from pitching to writing the story. You will also learn about resources, tools and tips on editing, style, grammar, and fact-checking. 

Module 5: Beyond Feature and News Writing  
This module will help participants identify other writing formats. Participants will be able to transform and experiment with their previously written pieces in other formats.  

Module 6: Putting yourself out there  
Participants will learn how to write succinct bios. This module will further work with students on critically evaluating their reach and the place of their writing in the broader media landscape. It will include steps on building a portfolio, and tips on how to find suitable publications.  

Module 7: Ethics and Journalism  
The participants will be taught how to identify ethical loopholes, and the key ethical and moral considerations to be kept in mind while pursuing journalistic writing.  

Module 8: Conclusion  
The participants will be given comprehensive feedback on their writings in the workshop, their bios, and their pitch approaches.  

What is the duration?
Three hours every weekend for eight weekends. 

What is the cost?
TBD