Journalist

Journalists find, check and tell stories for an audience — for newspapers, websites, magazines, radio, TV, podcasts or trade and specialist publications. The work is a mix of gathering information (talking to people, reading documents, attending events, monitoring social media and press releases) and turning it into something publishable to a deadline. Most journalists work for a publisher or broadcaster, though many freelance, and the audience might be the general public, a local community, or professionals in a specific industry.

Approximate graduate salary

Entry-level journalism pay is typically somewhere around GBP 20,000-28,000 to start, and this varies very widely — local and regional newspaper roles and small independents often sit at the lower end, while trade/B2B publishing, financial and legal specialist titles, and London-based broadcasters and nationals can start noticeably higher. Freelance earnings are far less predictable. Treat all of these as rough approximations.

What you'd actually do

Pitching story ideas in a morning conference or editorial meeting, and being told which ones are worth chasing
Phoning, emailing and messaging people to get quotes or confirm facts — councillors, police press offices, company spokespeople, campaigners, ordinary people affected by a story
Writing and rewriting copy to a set word count and a hard deadline, then having it cut or reshaped by a subeditor or editor
Attending things in person or remotely: court hearings, council meetings, press conferences, protests, matches, product launches, industry conferences
Monitoring rivals, press releases, social media, freedom of information responses and public databases for anything new
Producing the same story in more than one format — a written article, a short video or vertical clip, a social post, a broadcast script or a newsletter item
Checking facts, names, spellings and legal risk before publication, and handling corrections or complaints afterwards
Watching how stories perform (page views, watch time, subscriptions) and adjusting headlines, angles or story choices accordingly

How graduates get in

Postgraduate journalism qualification — an NCTJ-accredited diploma or an MA in journalism. The NCTJ (National Council for the Training of Journalists) Diploma in Journalism is the most widely recognised qualification in UK print and online news, and covers news writing, media law, public affairs and often shorthand. This is a very common route, though not universal.
Undergraduate journalism degree, ideally one that includes NCTJ accreditation or substantial practical work. Common, but note that many working journalists studied something else entirely.
Direct entry as a trainee or junior reporter, usually at local, regional or trade publications, on the strength of a portfolio of published work. Some employers will pay for or part-fund your NCTJ while you work.
Structured trainee schemes run by larger publishers and broadcasters — competitive, often small intakes, sometimes with their own in-house training. These exist but are far fewer than the number of graduates who want them, so most people do not start this way.
Apprenticeships in journalism and content production, which are a real route and don't require a degree — worth knowing about even if you already have one.
Building your way in through student media, a specialist blog or newsletter, freelance shifts, or work experience placements, then converting that into paid casual shifts. Shift work at a newsdesk is a common informal foot in the door.

What employers ask for

A degree in almost any subject is normally acceptable — English, history, politics and journalism are common but law, sciences, economics or languages can be a genuine advantage because specialist knowledge is valuable. The subject matters much less than evidence you can write and report.
Grades matter less than in some graduate sectors; a 2:1 is a typical expectation for postgraduate courses and some trainee schemes, but a strong portfolio can outweigh a 2:2.
A portfolio of published work is close to essential — student newspaper, community site, blog, freelance pieces, hospital radio, podcasts. Employers want to see you have already done the job in some form.
The NCTJ Diploma (including media law and public affairs) is expected or strongly preferred for many news reporting jobs, especially local and regional press. Shorthand at 100 words per minute is still asked for by some employers and treated as optional by others — this varies a lot.
Broadcast roles often want demonstrable audio or video skills and a showreel; some want a broadcast-specific qualification, others train on the job.
A driving licence is often requested for local and regional reporting jobs where you need to get to courts, councils and doorsteps.

Skills that matter

Writing fast and clean under deadline

You will regularly be asked for a publishable 400 words in under an hour, and copy that needs heavy rewriting costs the desk time it doesn't have.

Getting people to talk to you

Most stories only stand up because someone agreed to be quoted, so cold-calling strangers, building contacts and reading when to push versus back off is the core craft.

Working knowledge of media law and ethics

Defamation, contempt of court, privacy and reporting restrictions can stop a story or land the publisher in court, so you need to spot the risk yourself rather than rely on someone else catching it.

Verification and healthy scepticism

Press releases, viral clips and confident sources are frequently wrong or self-serving, and the reputational cost of publishing something false falls on you.

Basic data and document literacy

Reading a set of accounts, a council budget, a spreadsheet or an FOI response often is the story, and this skill separates reporters who break news from those who rewrite it.

Multi-format production

Even print-rooted jobs now expect you to shoot and cut a short video, record clean audio, write for search and social, or present to camera.

Resilience and self-management

You will get doors shut, calls refused, stories spiked and abuse online, often while juggling several stories at once with little supervision.

Where it leads

Trainee or junior reporter — usually covering general news, courts, councils and community stories, or writing high-volume online copy. Many employers run a probation-plus-qualification period of roughly a year or two before you count as a fully qualified reporter; where the NCTJ is involved there is often a further senior qualification taken after around 18 months to two years in the job.
Reporter, then senior or specialist reporter — you pick up a patch or beat (health, education, crime, politics, business, sport, or a trade specialism) and start being trusted with bigger, more legally sensitive stories.
From here the path forks. Some go editorial-management: chief reporter, news editor, production editor, then editor — more commissioning, planning and staff management, less of your own reporting. Others stay on the reporting side and go deeper: correspondent, investigative reporter, columnist, presenter or on-air correspondent in broadcast.
Many journalists move sideways rather than up — into freelance and self-employed work, launching a newsletter or podcast, or into adjacent fields where the skills transfer directly: communications and PR, public affairs, in-house content, research, publishing or documentary production. This is extremely common and not a failure.
Timelines vary enormously. Moving between employers and cities is often faster than waiting for promotion in one newsroom, and in smaller outlets you may be given senior responsibility very early simply because the team is tiny.

What people get wrong

“Journalism means writing your own opinions about things you find interesting.”

Opinion writing and columns are a small, usually senior slice of the industry. Early-career work is overwhelmingly reporting what other people said and did, often on subjects you did not choose — planning applications, inquests, magistrates' court lists, local sport — with your own views kept out of it.

“National newspapers and the BBC are where careers start.”

Most journalists begin at local and regional titles, trade and B2B magazines, specialist websites or small independent publishers. Trade press in particular — covering construction, pharmaceuticals, insurance, farming, retail and so on — hires steadily, pays competitively and is largely invisible to graduates, which makes it one of the more realistic entry points.

“It's a writing job, so being a good writer is the main thing.”

Good writing is table stakes. What distinguishes employable journalists is the ability to find information other people don't have and to stand it up — phone skills, contacts, document digging and knowing the law. Plenty of excellent writers never get hired because they can't source a story.

“Journalism is a declining industry with no jobs.”

It's better described as a restructured one. Traditional print roles have contracted, but there has been growth in areas like subscription newsletters, audio and podcasting, video-first and vertical formats, data journalism, and specialist B2B and membership publications. Pay at entry level is often modest compared with other graduate sectors, and unpaid or low-paid work experience is still a real barrier — that part of the criticism is fair.

Where this varies

Practice differs sharply by sector. In local and regional news, the NCTJ diploma, courts and council reporting and a driving licence are central, volume is high and teams are small, so you'll do a bit of everything. In trade and B2B publishing, subject knowledge and contacts within an industry matter more than formal journalism qualifications, and the work is more about interviewing professionals and reading company and regulatory documents than doorstepping. In broadcast, technical production skills, voice and a showreel carry a lot of weight, and there is far more emphasis on structured trainee schemes and short contracts. In digital-native and consumer publishing, search and social performance, video formats and speed are often what you are judged on. Geography also matters: London holds the largest concentration of national and specialist titles, but there are significant newsrooms in cities such as Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast, Leeds and Bristol, and nations-and-regions broadcasting means some of the more accessible openings are outside London.

General guidance about the role across the UK market, not about any specific employer. Entry routes and requirements vary — always check the individual job advert.