1. Making news Francesca Vella

2. What to write about... Broaden your horizons: look at both local and foreign news for inspiration  National Geographic – particularly good for striking photographs  WWF – World Wildlife Fund  The environment section of many news agencies (e.g. BBC News and the Guardian)

5. When looking at local news...  What are people talking about?  And what are they not talking about?  Look at news, blogs and people’s comments  How could I develop existing stories further?  How could I raise awareness on themes and subjects of particular importance?

8. Once you’ve chosen what you’re going to tackle...  It is important to know details about the topic you're tackling and this needs to be reliable  You need as much background information as possible  Your sources: the people you speak to need to be reliable

9. Reporting in a comprehensive manner  Your aim should be to give facts, bringing out both positive and negative aspects, and trying to start having some answers to your questions  If your article is going to include criticism, aim to make it constructive

10. Your agenda: The truth  When writing an article, you should not have hidden agendas  Your only agenda should be to seek the truth  Don’t be sensationalist just for the sake of it

11. Never stop asking  Ask as many questions as possible: The outcome of your story depends on your questions  If there are any questions that have been left unanswered, point this out in your article

12. You have all the material you need... Time for presentation  The headline needs to attract attention  Your lead paragraph needs to be concise, to the point and grippping  Use direct quotes to make your story more credible  Think of striking photographs that could complement your story  You could use one or two important quotes in larger font

13. Comment is free, but facts are sacred - C.P. Scott Editor of the Manchester Guardian (now the Guardian)

14. What stories would you like to tackle?  What would you like people to start talking about?  Would you like to raise awareness on a particular topic?  How do you intend going about it?

15. How would you tackle these stories?  200 tonnes of fly ash released into the atmosphere (The Malta Independent, 23 May 2010)

16.  Film company apologises for Dwejra disaster (timesofmalta.com, 2 November 2010)

17.  SmartCity tunnel works endangering Wied Blandun – Fgura mayor (MaltaToday, 6 November 2010)

18.  Injured sea turtles: Fishermen urged to cut nylon close to turtles’ mouths (The Malta Independent, 26 July 2011)