Journalism prompt generator An AI prompt generator with writing prompts for journalists and every news writer

This journalism prompt generator turns what you know about a story into a structured prompt for ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Perplexity: editorial task, format, audience, sources, attribution and verification. Unlike most writing prompt generators, it doesn’t hand you random story ideas: it builds a working brief for reporters, editors and newsroom teams. Founderz built it, the team behind the Certificate Program in Artificial Intelligence and Innovation.

Journalism prompt generator

Tell us the story, what you have already confirmed and what you need, and get a professional prompt for angles, interviews, timelines, verification or headlines. Only step 1 is required: everything else stays on Auto.

How to use the journalism prompt generator, step by step

To build your reporting prompt, follow these steps. Only the first one is required: anything you skip stays on Auto.

1. Start with the essentials. Pick an example (Verify, Interview, Timeline, Data, Explainer or Headlines) or describe the story, what you have confirmed and with which sources. Then choose what you need to prepare: angle, questions and sources, an interview, a timeline and dossier, data analysis, a verification plan and four more tasks.
2. Set the story and audience. The format (news story, investigation, interview, data story, profile, scene report, newsletter or social media) and who you are writing for, from the general public to readers who follow the topic. In the advanced settings you set the deadline: today, this week or several weeks.
3. Add sources and attribution. The starting point (public information, your own documents, data with methodology, an official text, a published story or no sources yet) and how sources are attributed: on the record, by role, on background or a sensitive source. In the advanced settings you choose the voices the story needs.
4. Adjust style and checks. The register (clear and direct, explanatory, narrative or breaking news) and extra checks such as preparing the right of reply, a reproducible methodology or flagging legal risk. In the advanced settings you set the language and your style guide.
5. Generate and copy your prompt. Click “Generate prompt”, enter your email to see the whole prompt and copy it.

The generator provides prompts based on your brief and the task you choose, and every prompt ends with a list of what is still to verify. Users can open any field or leave it on Auto, depending on their preference and expertise. The newsroom basics are always included: no invented sources, quotes or figures, every claim attributed, facts kept apart from allegations and analysis, the presumption of innocence respected, and no details that could identify minors, victims or protected sources.

Example: generate a verification plan for a local news topic

With the generator’s “Verify” example, the prompt starts like this. It’s an excerpt: the button copies the full prompt.

ROLE
Act as a senior news editor and reporter with experience in general news, investigations and verification. You apply the standards of the trade (attribution, corroboration with at least two independent sources and the right of reply) and you never invent sources, quotes, figures, dates or facts. You are a professional fact-checker: you break a text into checkable claims and define how to check each one.

GOAL
Prepare a verification matrix for the story before writing or publishing.

CONTEXT
Context provided by the user (treat it as your main source):
[START OF BRIEF]
The city council has announced it will close two branch libraries from September because of "low use". We have the minutes of yesterday’s council meeting and two residents who use the library every day and are willing to talk. An opposition councillor says on social media that visits rose 20% this year, but gives no source.
[END OF BRIEF]

...

OUTPUT FORMAT
Deliver a verification table with columns Claim, Who makes it, Status, Primary source, Method, Risk and Priority; then what can run now, what cannot, and with what cautious wording.

...

The full prompt adds the local audience, how to handle the minutes and your notes, the rules on attribution and the presumption of innocence, the same-day deadline, the verification steps and a final check before the answer.

The result: the assistant separates what the minutes say from what the residents report, rates the councillor’s visits figure as unconfirmed and suggests requesting the official records from the council before writing.

Tips for every writer: personalize the brief and pick the right tool

Use cases by category: AI prompts for the newsroom workflow

• Story prep Brainstorm and find the angle, the questions and a source plan for a story, or plan coverage for each scenario of a breaking event.
• Interviews Talking points and a question list with follow-ups for each user of the story: officials, experts and people affected.
• Dossiers A timeline with the gaps flagged.
• Data stories A source card, the calculations with their formulas and the most honest chart for the finding.
• Headlines and content creation Headlines, a lede, and versions of a published story as a newsletter block, social posts, a carousel or a short video script.
• Explainers and profiles An outline and draft with attribution you can rewrite in your own voice.

What makes good writing prompts for journalism

A good prompt gives the AI a role, a task, the context, the material, the constraints and the output format. In journalism the constraints carry the most weight: which sources are acceptable, what can’t be stated, and what must be attributed. Without them, the model fills gaps with details that sound plausible.

Journalists make good prompt writers because they already think this way; the generator turns that newsroom method into a strategy the AI can follow and leaves the editorial call with you. It’s a source of method, not a spark of inspiration: AI content still needs a thoughtful reporter behind it, and the theme of every story is yours to choose. The prompt categories mirror the newsroom tasks you already do.

More prompts and generators to boost creativity

The Founderz AI prompt library has ready-to-use prompts for other tasks. These generators work well alongside this one:

• AI prompt generator for writers For reports, press releases and sensitive emails.
• Screenwriting prompt generator For documentary treatments and scenes.
• Community manager prompt generator To adapt a story for social media.

Why I built these generators

Frequently asked questions

Is the journalism prompt generator free?

Yes, it’s free. Before it asks for anything, it shows you a preview with the first sections of the prompt. To see the whole prompt and copy it, enter your email and accept the Privacy Policy; receiving communications from Founderz is optional.

It only asks once per visit: any prompts you generate after that are shown in full.

Is this a journal prompt generator for daily journaling?

No. It’s built for news work: reporting, interviews, verification and headlines. It won’t give you creative writing prompts, and it won’t fix writer’s block with a random idea, though a clear outline often helps with that too.

Which AI tools are best for journalists?

The ones your newsroom has approved for the material you handle. The prompt works in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity or any assistant that accepts text; for work with linked sources, Perplexity or NotebookLM are good options.

Can AI replace fact-checking?

No. Every prompt asks the AI to mark what’s unconfirmed with [TO VERIFY] and end with what is still to verify, but checking each fact against the original source is still the reporter’s job.

What happens to the data I type in?

The generator doesn’t run a model: it combines your answers with instructions written by Founderz, in your browser. Only your email goes to Founderz when you ask to view the prompt, and usage statistics only record the options you choose, never your description or the prompt.

Last updated: October 17, 2026