Journalist - overview

As a journalist, you'll use your creativity, research and writing skills to produce stories, articles and features. You might work for a local or national newspaper, magazine or trade publication. Learn more about becoming a journalist, how your career might develop, and what you'll need to do to get a job.

Learn what the role involves below.

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What does a journalist do?

A role in journalism will involve researching, writing and editing stories for publication. Working with other writers and editors, your work will be a key part of the publication. You might go freelance or get an in-house role working for local, regional or national newspapers, general interest or specialist magazines, retail or business publications.

Jobs can be hard to get, so you'll need to be resilient, and proactive in developing your own network to help you find opportunities. It's an exciting career path, where you'll get to learn about new topics and shape the public perception of events, people and places.

What will your days involve?

Journalism can be a varied job, and your daily tasks might include:

  • Following up on leads and contacts
  • Researching stories
  • Pitching new stories, features and articles
  • Interviewing people through the phone, online or in person
  • Attending press conferences
  • Recording notes from meetings
  • Writing articles for print
  • Creating online articles and other content
  • Editing, fact-checking and proofreading articles
  • Reporting live events as they happen

FAQs

How much can you earn as a journalist?

The average salary for a journalist in the UK is £31,720. Graduates start at around £22,000.

Does a journalist role involve travel in the UK or overseas?

It's likely that you'll have to travel for this role. This might be to attend interviews, meetings, industry events or other networking events. You might have the opportunity to travel overseas too, for example if you're working for an international organisation, or researching a story involving another country.

Can you work from home as a journalist?

Many journalists are freelance, and often work from home with occasional trips to the office.

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