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7 Ways to be a Better Journalist in 2017

Some New Year’s Resolutions to #MakeJournalismGreatAgain

By Sandy K. Johnson

2016 was undeniably a mixed bag for journalists. Let’s make 2017 the year we get our reputations back.

Some suggestions for the New Year:

1. Take inspiration from spectacular journalism produced by fellow journalists in 2016. These examples just happen to be National Press Foundation award winners. #GoodReads

2. We’re all fact-checkers now. 2016 brought us not only politicians’ lies and exaggerations, but actual fake news. Teach yourself how to fact-check by learning from the best, like PolitiFact and FactCheck.org.

3. Prepare yourself to cover one-party government. Your colleagues offer tips for reporting on executive authority and covering the GOP-controlled Congress.

4. Use crowdsourcing as a reporting tool, as David Fahrenthold did to investigate Donald Trump’s dubious charitable giving.

5. Pay it forward. Share with your colleagues these two journalism awards that open for entries Jan. 17: the Mattingly award for mental health reporting carries a $10,000 prize and the Stokes award for energy/environment reporting has a $2,000 honorarium.

6. Learn to incorporate investigative reporting techniques into your daily beat. Apply tips from award-winning investigative journalists.

7. Need to recharge your enthusiasm? No matter what your beat is, NPF has resources that will make you a better reporter and give you some fresh story ideas. Click around our digital content.

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