Mutapa Times Academy
About the Academy
The Mutapa Times Academy is the training programme of The Mutapa Times, an independent digital newsroom. It is a self-paced, online course that teaches the craft of journalism and ends in a verifiable certificate. It is open to anyone, anywhere: aspiring reporters, career changers, communications staff, and university students studying journalism or media. We want employers, universities and our own readers to be able to trust what the certificate means, so this page sets out plainly what it is, and what it is not.
What it is
An honest description
The Academy awards a Professional Certificate in Journalism. It is a certificate of completion from a working newsroom, designed and assessed by practising editors. It is not an accredited academic degree and we never describe it as one. Its value comes from three things you can check: a verifiable credential, transparent assessment, and the published work our graduates produce.
What you learn
The course
The course runs across 18 units and 76 lessons, with more than 350 interactive exercises. It covers the foundations of journalism, how a newsroom works, the business of news, the craft of writing, fact-checking and copy, working with the media, pitching and the elevator pitch, how advertising and the news economy actually work, measuring impact, solution journalism, the realities of journalism jobs, and how to get your work published.
Learning is active rather than passive: every lesson ends in exercises, and you cannot move on until you have shown you understood the material. For the full module-by-module breakdown and learning objectives, see the syllabus.
Who it is for
Two ways to take it
Most learners take the Professional Certificate: the complete course at a one-time price, for anyone building newsroom-ready skills. There is also a University and Student track, built for journalism and media students in the UK and worldwide who want a marked portfolio piece, CV-ready evidence of skills, and a reference from a working newsroom to sit alongside their degree.
Both follow the same lessons and standard. The syllabus page explains the difference and the price of each.
How you are assessed
The standard
- Each lesson must be passed at 80% before the next unlocks, so progress reflects mastery, not just attendance.
- There are 16 checkpoint exams through the course and a final exam, all of which must be passed at 80%.
- The Reading Room is compulsory: you must read and analyse recent published articles before the certificate unlocks. Reading widely is the single best habit of a working journalist.
- Written work is assessed by AI against a fixed editorial rubric, and the final capstone, a complete article, is reviewed by a real Mutapa Times editor. There is always a human in the loop on the work that matters.
- The certificate records your final mark as a percentage. We do not round it up or hand it out for turning up.
The credential
Verifiable by anyone
Every certificate carries a unique credential ID. Any employer or admissions officer can confirm it is genuine, and see the course, date and final mark, at our public checker. No login required.
Who runs it
Real editors, named work
The Academy is run by the editorial team of The Mutapa Times. The same editors who publish the newspaper design the course, write the rubrics and review graduates' work. You can see the people who write for us, and read graduates who have earned a byline, on our masthead.
Where it leads
A real byline, not just a badge
Our strongest proof is the work itself. Graduates can pitch stories to The Mutapa Times and earn a published byline, build a portfolio on their own author page, and, for strong work, receive a reference from the newsroom. We would rather you judged us by what our graduates publish than by anything we say about ourselves.
Contact
Questions
For anything to do with the Academy, including verifying a credential or a reference, email [email protected].
See also our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.