A journalist role with vary from company to company and from town to town depending on whether you are working for a regional paper or magazine or a national one. However the basic principles of the role are the same and below you will find some of the duties that an employer will be looking for you to do in your work as a journalist.
Attending meetings to plan the content of the magazine, newspaper or radio programmeMaking sure that you suggest ideas for articles that would interest the readers or listeners as applicableInterviewing different people at different locations and different circumstances and researching to collect information for articlesCreatively writing articles to suit the magazine’s/newspaper’s style/toneEnsuring that you are up to date with developments and trends in the magazine’s /newspaper’s subject area.Following story ‘leads’, or generating story ideasThorough research of stories, using sources such as the internet, archives and databases and through interviewingEnsuring that you know of the locations and deciding on the best way of presenting a story prior to it being liveWriting scripts, website or social media content as necessary in conjunction with your teamPreparing interview questions to use and conducting live and pre-recorded interviews where you must be able to think on your feetGood presenting skills in TV or radio studios or on location and recording voiceovers for recorded materialCommunicating effectively by asking questions at briefings and press conferences to get the information you needBeing aware of how camera’s and sound crew’s work and if possible operating the equipment as necessaryEditing stories to fit scheduled timingsPlan and decide on the best running order for bulletinsMaking quick changes to bulletins as new stories break Networking and building contacts to maintain a flow of news, for example, police and emergency services, local council, community groups, health trusts, press officers from a variety of organisations, the general public, etc as necessary depending on the role you are in to allow you to find new newsVaried attendance at a variety of events, such as council meetings, magistrates’ court proceedings, football matches, talent contests, as relevant to the news in your roleDealing with general queries and answering the phones on the news desk and reacting to breaking news storiesWorking closely with the news team, photographers and editors of the teamWorking to strict deadlines and producing concise and accurate copy according to the newspaper’s styleEnsuring that the news is live by creating and uploading news content for the newspaper website sometimes several times a day.Related: Journalist Covering Letter Example
Journalist Job Description
