Journalism Courses

About Journalism

Journalism is a diverse and versatile career, involving a range of mediums and niches for aspiring journalists to get stuck into. Whether you choose to work in print, TV or radio, at the most basic level, your job will require you to investigate, gather and present information in a way that appeals to your target audience.

However, in order to succeed in the field, you will need to make sure you possess the right set of skills, for example:

• Excellent verbal and written communication
• Impeccable research skills
• Attention to detail
• Interpersonal skills
• Critical thinking
• Data analysis
• Ability to digest and sort through information quickly
• Perseverance

A key component of the job, particularly in our digitally-enabled world, is that of technical skills. While the tools will vary between different journalism posts and roles, you’ll typically need to be comfortable handling various digital devices, making use of social media and, in some cases, editing your own audio and video content. An understanding of SEO is also a plus!

Roles & Responsibilities

Your roles and responsibilities as a journalist will vary according to the medium you’ve chosen to work in. However, you can expect the duties listed below to come up regardless:

• Researching stories
• Writing and collating news stories
• Seeking out sources to support stories
• Verifying statements
• Making sure stories are represented in a way that is easily digestible and appeals to target audience
• Liaising with editors, designers and photographers

How to Become a Journalist

There is a wide range of paths into journalism. For example, you could undertake on-the-job training as part of an apprenticeship or a trainee scheme, or you could become a journalist via the academic route, i.e. an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in journalism.

In order to qualify for a journalism degree, you’ll need five GCSEs at grades A to C, including core subjects such as maths, English and science. You’ll also need three A-levels; though you won’t need to have completed any specific A-levels to qualify.

Alternatively, you could embark on short vocational journalism courses to teach you everything you need to know to succeed. While degrees used to be a must, this is changing, and many employers won’t ask for one.

Journalism Careers

Because journalism is such a diverse field, once you have the necessary skills and qualifications, you’ll have the option to experiment with different sub-sectors within it. For example, you could choose to work for:

• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Press agencies
• Websites
• Radio stations
• TV companies
• Periodical publishers

What’s also great about journalism is that it allows for ad hoc, freelance jobs, offering an alternative to committing to just one employer and taking on fixed, often inflexible, hours. However, in order to be able to make it as a freelance journalist, you’ll need a network of industry contacts, a good reputation as a journalist as well as the ability to write effective pitches to pique the interest of potential clients.