Journalist Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a journalist. Feel free to use our journalist job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a journalist.
Who is a Journalist?
A journalist conducts research, gathers information, and presents it in the form of a news report. Newspapers, periodicals, radio, television, and the internet can all be used to convey this information. Journalists are expected to convey information in a balanced and objective manner.
Journalism is a diverse field with numerous prospects. Journalists do specific jobs in many fields of the media (television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and so on). A journalist may perform one or more of the following tasks, depending on the size of the organization:
Reporters: they are involved directly in the information-gathering process. They conduct interviews, locate sources, and compile all of the data required to write a complete news report. In news reports, documentaries, and feature articles, reporters provide the information in written or spoken form. General reporters cover a wide range of subjects, while others specialize in specific areas like sports, politics, or lifestyle. Some reporters work for huge news organizations as staff reporters, while others work as freelance writers, creating stories for whoever pays them.
Editors: are responsible for deciding what should be published in a newspaper, magazine, or news bulletin. They are in charge of the content that the journalists are to write and make all final decisions.
Sub-editors: they take stories produced by reporters and format them to meet the specific requirements of their newspaper, magazine, or online. Sub-editors aren’t responsible for gathering information; instead, they focus on how current content might be better customized to a certain audience.
News Editors: The people in charge of all news journalists are known as news editors. They are the ones who decide which stories to cover and who will execute the work. News editors at large news organizations may have a deputy, known as the head of staff, whose responsibility it is to assign reporters to specific stories.
Feature writers: are those who write longer stories that provide more context to a news item. This style of writing necessitates much more in-depth research in order to provide readers with a long and comprehensive essay.
Photojournalists: are those who utilize photography to report on the news. They may cover events alongside a reporter, shooting images to illustrate a written article, or they may attend news events on their own, combining the two occupations. A photojournalist must have photography equipment on them at all times and make snap decisions in order to record key events as they happen. They may be exposed to physical risk, crowds, or inclement weather at times.
Journalist Job Description
Below are the journalist job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a journalist job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of a journalist include the following:
- Examining leads and pitching editors on compelling article ideas.
- Making sure you stick to all of your regular and recurring deadlines.
- Reviewing and revising articles properly before submitting it to the editor for approval.
- Making use of all of your findings to write articles that are clean, concise, and accurate.
- Adhere to the profession’s ethical code.
- Keeping track of all notes, interviews, and audio recordings is a good idea.
- Establish trusting relationships with contacts and sources, for future research.
- Attending events, reading various periodicals, and opinion pieces, and using social media to stay up to date on the newest news developments.
- Collecting, verifying, and deciphering data.
Qualifications
- Having a bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications, English, or a closely related subject is required.
- Working as a journalist or reporter for at least two years is required.
- Capable of reporting with a high level of integrity and objectivity.
- The ability to meet deadlines and fact-check data accurately.
- Excellent judgment and observational abilities.
- Excellent communication and networking abilities, as well as the ability to extract data efficiently.
Essential Skills
- Digital literacy.
Most jobs now require digital literacy. Because websites, apps, social media, laptops, and tablets are the new broadcast mediums, you’ll need to know how to use them as a journalist. You must be willing to adapt and accept change in order to have a meaningful profession, such as using digital platforms. This is because broadcasting news using digital media is one of the most effective ways to reach a large audience.
- Objectivity and logical thinking.
You can’t afford to be biased when covering the news. You’ll only report information that interests you or a certain set of individuals if you don’t do so. Before delivering any news, you must remain objective and reason logically. Remember that this information is available to a wide range of people. Respectful and unbiased stuff should be presented and written.
- Communication
A journalist’s principal responsibility is to transmit news, either in writing or orally. You can’t be a journalist without excellent communication abilities, no matter how good your other skills are. You’ll be expected to conduct interviews with sources, report on breaking news, and produce articles or scripts. Make an effort to improve your communication skills by presenting the news or information in a polite, empathic, and confident manner.
- Persistence
As a journalist, your sources may or may not be willing to speak with you or provide you with the information you require. It’s critical that you stay focused and committed to the story. Journalists who report original and exclusive news are successful. Giving up when things get tough won’t earn you that type of news.
- Ability to conduct research
In a journalist’s job, research skills are essential. You must record all details and gather information from many sources. Furthermore, you must be able to assess all of your data and study prior to exposing it to the public. As a result, make an effort to improve your research skills and create new approaches to analyzing and displaying facts.
- Ethical Journalism
Even in the face of severe competition from a variety of broadcasting channels, you must preserve and adhere to journalistic standards. You may receive high marks for a report delivered in an unethical manner, but it could jeopardize your career over time. To avoid any career issues, make sure you only report what is true.
- Journalism expertise.
Having a solid foundation in journalism education can be extremely beneficial to your career. You must be knowledgeable in both the practical and theoretical aspects of your employment. Your knowledge, talents, and experience will then be able to assist you to advance and succeed in your job.
- Attention to the details.
Journalists are obligated to report genuine and accurate information. There are numerous sources of information, some of which are untrustworthy. As a journalist, you must pay close attention to detail in order to determine whether the information you’re about to convey to the public is correct. Make sure to conduct thorough research on a subject in order to provide all relevant information.
- Investigative journalism.
You must have investigative reporting skills in order to investigate any damaging behaviors in society. You can then assist persons from marginalized communities or even a group of people who are suffering in silence. To be safe and safeguard your sources, you must be extremely discrete.
- Possesses problem-solving abilities.
You’ll face many challenges as a journalist, whether at work, during a live show recording, or out in the field. It’s critical that you have problem-solving abilities in order to overcome any issues or hurdles that may arise along the route. You should be able to spot problems and solve them quickly.
- Writing
Another fundamental journalism skill is writing. Journalists must be able to communicate in writing for various sorts of media, including text stories, podcast scripts, photo captions, and social media posts. Understanding the fundamentals of grammar and punctuation is one of the most important journalism writing abilities. Journalists should also be able to communicate properly, clarify difficult information, and follow a style guide.
- Boldness and Courage
Good journalists are constantly pushing themselves to learn more and ask more difficult questions. They put their emotions aside to uncover the facts about important people, places, and events. Investigating what’s going on at the scene requires a lot of courage. When reporting significant events, they aren’t content with making phone calls from the luxury of their newsroom workstation. Journalists from a local newspaper, for example, might go to the scene of dangerous floodwaters in their neighborhood and speak with volunteers who are sandbagging a failing dam.
How to Become a Journalist
- Earn a bachelor’s degree.
Most media companies require a bachelor’s degree as a minimum level of education. It is preferable to have a journalism or mass communication degree. Graduates with comparable degrees like as public relations or English, on the other hand, may be considered for roles provided they have relevant experience to enhance their qualifications.
You’ll take classes in media ethics, research, interviewing, and writing appealing copy as part of your journalism degree. You’ll also study about modern journalism’s various channels, such as print, web, and video.
- Work for the school’s media team.
Prior to entering the workforce, college provides a wonderful opportunity to obtain experience. Even when looking for an entry-level position in journalism, it is critical to gain as much experience as possible in order to establish your ability.
If you know what form of media you want to work in, start looking for jobs in that industry as soon as you can, such as at the school newspaper or radio station. Working in student media is a great way to start establishing a portfolio of work that you’re happy of and that you think best displays your strengths as a reporter. If you’re not sure what kind of reporting or specialization you want to pursue, you’ll be exposed to a variety of topics during your study, and you may augment those possibilities by joining student media and trying out different jobs.
- Create a blog
Launching your own blog is another way to start building an experience portfolio. You have complete creative control over the content, format, and tone of your writing when you create a personal blog. Focus your blog on writing about the field you want to enter if you already know it. For example, an aspiring sports journalist can start a blog to provide weekly game analysis, but an aspiring political broadcaster should start a blog to promote videos from their YouTube channel where they provide commentary on current happenings in politics.
If you can successfully establish a following for your blog, it can open up a slew of new professional doors for you, including the possibility of directly monetizing it. Even if your blog does not attract a large readership, you are still honing your abilities and expanding your work opportunities. By creating material on a regular basis, you are both preparing yourself for the work you will be doing later in your career and providing yourself with several opportunities to generate work that you would be proud to include in your portfolio.
- Make a professional portfolio
Many aspiring authors mistakenly feel that a personal blog and a portfolio are the same thing, but you should construct a separate portfolio to showcase your greatest work. You don’t want to leave it up to chance that the hiring manager reads your greatest pieces on your blog when applying for a position where you can offer an online link, so pick and choose your best work to establish a professional and polished portfolio. A portfolio might also help you identify the work you wish to submit for printed submissions.
Your portfolio should be carefully chosen, with just the best work in it. Create separate sections in your portfolio for the many types of writing you’ve done if you’ve covered a variety of subjects with varying styles or tones. This can assist potential employers in quickly locating examples of work that are relevant to their media business.
- Look for internship opportunities.
Internships with media organizations will be available to you as an upperclassman. This is the most effective strategy to gain industry experience and create a network. While personal blogs and volunteer work for schools provide valuable experience and clips, work done in a professional atmosphere is more appealing to media companies when seeking for entry-level careers.
When a potential employer sees internship experience on your CV, they can see that you’ve not only mastered the fundamentals of journalism but also how to apply them in a professional newsroom with tight deadlines. On your online portfolio, you should always aim to highlight work from an internship that garnered positive feedback from your supervisors.
- Make a resume.
A CV is less necessary in journalism than it is in many other areas because your writing samples provide more solid evidence of your abilities. It is, nonetheless, critical that you produce a professional CV.
Include work you’ve done for your school’s journalism organizations in your experience section, as well as any internships and professional experience you’ve had. If you earned any recognition for your stories, such as pieces that won prizes or were picked up by media outside of your local area, make a note of it in your experience section or in an awards and achievements section of your resume.
- Apply for a job.
It’s critical to match your sample work and résumé to the job description when applying for journalistic positions. Concentrate your professional experience and writing examples on the specific field of the role wherever possible.
If you have no prior experience writing about the topic of the job posting, select your finest work that matches the style and tone of the media company to which you are applying. The better impression your submitted work and resume make on the recruiting manager or editor reading submissions, the more directly applicable they are.
Where to Work as a Journalist
If you desire to work as a journalist, the following organizations may be of interest to you:
- Radio and television stations
- Newspapers (print and online )
- Magazines
- Creative digital media companies.
- Media and broadcast companies
There are many ways for you to put your creativity and communication abilities to work outside of journalism and media. These are typical examples of typical employers:
- Advertising and marketing companies.
- PR consultancies.
- Charities
- Corporate communications agencies.
- The Civil Service, as well as institutions of further and higher education, are other common employers.
- Work in law, management, public administration, and politics is also possible.
Journalist Salary Scale
Journalists in the United States typically earn around 110,000 dollars per year. Salaries range from 55,100 USD to 171,000 USD (lowest to highest) (highest).
This is the annual paid average, which includes housing, transportation, and other benefits. Journalist pay varies a lot depending on certain criteria such as experience, talents, gender, and location.
Journalists in Nigeria normally make roughly 372,000 NGN per month on average. Salaries range from 190,000 NGN to 573,000 NGN (lowest to highest) (highest).
This is the monthly paid average, which covers housing, transportation, and other benefits. Journalist pay varies a lot depending on some factors like experience, talents, gender, and location.