Journalism Writing Lab | Cox Institute for Journalism

The Journalism Writing Lab’s mission is to guide students as they report, write and produce meaningful stories, deepening their reporting abilities. Contact professor Lori Johnston , director of the Journalism Writing Lab, with questions.

: Covering Poverty is a resource for journalists, devoted to helping community, regional and national journalists cover poverty within their beats and to provide guidelines on how to appropriately write about people and poverty-related matters. The Journalism Writing Lab partners with professional news organizations, at right, for the benefit of students and the industry.

Michael Giarrusso, deputy for global newsgathering at The Associated Press and a 1992 graduate of the College of Journalism and Mass Communication, meets in spring 2022 with students involved in Covering Poverty and other Cox Institute programs.
Lori Johnston, pictured with graduate Laura Nwogu, whose involvement in Cox Institute programs includes being a 2021 Levin Leader, is director of the Journalism Writing Lab.
Both the toolkit and the stories reported provide unique insights and reflection on the issues within Covering Poverty.
Students in the Covering Poverty project visited the Athens Area Homeless Shelter in spring 2022 to learn about its new programs and how it helps families experiencing homelessness.
2020 Cox Industry Fellow Nick Chiles joined the Cox Institute in August 2019 as its first writing coach and helped establish the Writing Lab as a service to provide journalism students writing assistance outside of the traditional classroom. (Photo Courtesy/Dayne Young)
Jacqueline GaNun, an undergraduate student at the University of Georgia, recently earned the Poynter ACES Certificate in Editing.
Covering Poverty sends out an email newsletter with tips, resources and reporting on the issues surrounding poverty.
Professor Lori Johnston and graduate students Kyra Posey and William Newlin presented tips for covering poverty to groups including the Georgia Scholastic Press Association Winter Conference at Tate Student Center on Feb. 10, 2022.
Professor Lori Johnston and graduate students Kyra Posey and William Newlin presented tips for covering poverty to groups including the Georgia Scholastic Press Association Winter Conference at Tate Student Center on Feb. 10, 2022.

Reporting & Writing Resources from the Journalism Writing Lab

Skills for Storytelling and Reporting YouTube Channel: Watch tutorial videos on using style guides, quotation/attribution, interviewing and more.

Also, check out these:

Professor Lori Johnston moderated a discussion between photojournalist Steffenie Burns (ABJ ’17) (photojournalist) and writer Sonam Vashi about freelancing during an Entrepreneurial Journalism Symposium hosted by the Cox Institute.