Holly J. Morris

is the NPR Training team's Digital Journalism Trainer. 

illustrations that mimic airplane safety instruction cards correspond with the headline-writing tips in the story

Write digital headlines both readers and Google will love

Here are some characteristics of good display and SEO headlines, plus some advice for chasing down an elusive muse.

The case against collocations, word pairs that stifle creativity

Tired of using “fearless leader,” “stony silence” or other hackneyed duos? You should be. Break the habit.

Nut graf and lead duos that point readers in the right direction

Certain pairings are better than others. We present some compatible couples.

How to write a cover letter for a journalism job or internship

Please, please, PLEASE read this before applying to a position at a member station or NPR (or ANY journalism job, really).

Editors, keep your writers happy

Earn their love and respect, not their loathing and resentment.

For digital, flatten the pyramid and embrace the trapezoid

If you’re wedded to the inverted pyramid (or just don’t know any better), don’t get to the point — end on a flat note. Metaphorically.

Triage your fact-checking: a method (and board game)

To help you think about journalistic accuracy on a deadline, we’ve developed a fact-checking triage method.

despairing editorial calendar on top of a box of tree ornaments

If you do holiday service journalism, do this (not that)

It’s the time of year when few local and regional news outlets (including public radio) are spared. Here’s how to do it as best as it can be done.

Should you write a question headline? It depends …

There are right ways and wrong ways to write question headlines.

Friends don’t let friends use snowclones (like this one)

You’re probably using these ubiquitous journalistic shortcuts without even knowing it.

5 techniques to spell any name correctly, every time

Save yourself from embarrassing misspellings of proper nouns with these tips.