News University, an online journalism training website, is offering a course exploring the basic building blocks of news stories.

The course, News Sense, examines the “who, what, when, where, why” and how of events and see how the answers to those questions shape news coverage.

In the five sections of this course, students learn what makes an event or idea a news story, skills to report and confirm information, techniques for turning jargon into clear writing, and the essentials of writing leads that draw readers into stories. Interactive games and quizzes throughout the course allow students to apply the skills learned.

The instructor is Mary Ann Hogan who speaks, teaches and leads writing workshops in newsrooms, on the Web and at industry events. This course is currently available at no cost to registered users of News University, and can be accessed anytime online.

For more information on the course and to become a registered user, visit www.newsu.org.