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Journalism and Broadcasting Career

From a first newsroom visit to a specialist beat: entry qualifications, training routes, a clips portfolio, media law and ethics, radio and TV presenting skills, internships, freelancing and moving up to the editing desk.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for Journalism and Broadcasting Career, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

200

Starter tasks

🧰 Professions & Trades

Journalism and Broadcasting Career

Building a career in journalism and broadcasting: training, a portfolio of clips, newsroom internships, radio and TV presenting, ethics and specialising.

  1. Newsroom shadowing day before committing
  2. Choosing between print, digital, radio and TV
  3. Entry qualifications for journalism training
  4. Journalism training routes compared
  5. Funding journalism study and the early low-pay years
  6. Budget reporting kit for phone, audio and video
  7. First news story in inverted pyramid style
  8. Joining student or community media
  9. Online clips portfolio and archive
  10. Professional profile and byline presence
  11. Interviewing technique from booking to transcript
  12. Shorthand or fast note-taking system
  13. Media law essentials for reporters
  14. Ethics code, corrections and source protection
  15. Verification and fact-checking workflow
  16. Records requests and public documents
  17. Numbers and statistics for reporters
  18. Feature writing and columns with a personal voice
  19. Writing for the ear in broadcast scripts
  20. Voice training for radio and TV presenting
  21. Radio package and audio editing
  22. Mobile video and piece to camera
  23. Daily news habit and story idea log
  24. Contacts book of sources
  25. Weekly news diary of courts, councils and parliament
  26. Weekly pitch list for editors
  27. Corrections and editor feedback log
  28. Digital security and source safety routine
  29. Trauma exposure and wellbeing check-ins
  30. Freelance invoicing and payment chasing
  31. Newsroom internship applications
  32. Getting the most from a newsroom internship
  33. Presenting showreel and audition tape
  34. Newsroom job application and writing test
  35. Press accreditation and press card
  36. Election night coverage preparation
  37. Hurricane and disaster reporting preparedness
  38. Journalism awards and fellowship entries
  39. Student journalist balancing coursework and campus media
  40. Career changer bringing expertise into journalism
  41. Setting up as a freelance journalist
  42. Stringer for regional and international outlets
  43. Working as a journalist abroad or for the diaspora press
  44. Shift rotas and family life in a newsroom
  45. Choosing and building a specialist beat
  46. Sports reporting and commentary
  47. Investigative project from tip to publication
  48. Moving onto the editing or producing desk
  49. Long-form documentary or podcast series
  50. Pay, contract and five-year career review

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

Newsroom shadowing day before committing

Watching a working newsroom for a full shift shows you what the job is really made of: the morning conference, the phone calls that go nowhere, the rewrite at five minutes to deadline and the evening bulletin. Doing it before paying for a course lets you decide with your eyes open, and the editor who hosts you may remember your name when internships come round.

First tasks

  • Email two newsrooms asking to shadow a reporter for one shift
  • Prepare three questions for the reporter about pay, hours and their route in
  • Write up how one story moved from conference to publication
  • Record your decision and three reasons for it in a short note

Choosing between print, digital, radio and TV

Each platform asks for a different day and a different set of skills: print and digital reward fast, accurate writing, radio rewards a clear voice and sound editing, and TV adds cameras, live crosses and appearance on screen. Most journalists now work across two or three, but knowing where you want to start shapes your course choice, your kit and your portfolio.

First tasks

  • Pick one strong story from each platform and note what made it work
  • List five things you want from a working day in news
  • Score print, digital, radio and TV against your five criteria
  • Write down your first and second platform and why

Entry qualifications for journalism training

Most journalism degrees and diplomas ask for a strong pass in English, and many look for a social science or humanities subject that shows you can read widely and argue a point.

First tasks

  • Copy the entry requirements for three journalism or media courses
  • List your CSEC, CAPE, GCSE, A level or high school results beside them
  • Book a resit or extra subject if English or a second subject falls short
  • Scan your certificates into one folder

Make it yours.

Install Journalism and Broadcasting Career, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.