Journalism reasoning

About this practice suite

This suite prepares candidates for journalism reasoning selection in the media, communications, language, and creative operations sector with 5 skill areas: critical thinking, verbal reasoning, reading comprehension, logical reasoning and situational judgment. Every question was written by Novus editors for this suite — none are taken from live or leaked exams — and the full bank holds 52 scored questions across three modes, plus 8 reserve questions used to vary repeat attempts. Answer keys never ship to the browser: your answers are scored server-side, and results stay on your device.

Skills this suite practises

• Critical thinking — Evaluating evidence, assumptions, arguments, credibility, and alternative explanations.
• Verbal reasoning — Drawing conclusions from written information without relying on outside assumptions.
• Reading comprehension — Understanding passages, instructions, policies, technical material, and workplace documents.
• Logical reasoning — Conditional logic, syllogisms, ordering, grouping, argument structure, and constraint problems.
• Situational judgment — Evaluating workplace responses against role-relevant principles.

Sample questions from the guided bank

Two of the 10 guided-practice questions, shown exactly as they appear in a session. Answers and explanations are not printed here — keys stay on the server — so open guided practice to answer them and see how you did.

1. Journalism reasoning about sources primarily asks whether a claim is:

   • A. Exciting enough to trend
   • B. Credibly supported, independently checkable, and fairly framed
   • C. Useful for a client’s brand campaign
   • D. Approved by the loudest commenter

2. An anonymous tip alleges corruption but provides no documents. Best first news judgment?

   • A. Publish immediately with a sensational headline
   • B. Ignore all anonymous tips forever
   • C. Seek corroboration, assess motive/risk, and involve an editor before any publish decision
   • D. Post the claim on your personal social as “just asking”

Practice modes and timing

Guided practice is untimed-feeling and instructional; the mini-test is a short timed check; the full simulation mirrors a complete sitting. All three draw on separate question sets, so moving up a mode never repeats what you practised.

Study outline

Read the study outline for this suite’s skills, timings, and recommended lessons on one printable page, or download its standalone HTML file. The printable page can also be saved as a PDF from your browser.