Broadcast journalism

 

All NCTJ-accredited courses include many of the skills required by professional broadcast journalists. News gathering and reporting skills are transferable. Broadcast journalists have to publish news and broadcast videos on the web just as print journalists do.  Media convergence has meant that traditional publishers and broadcasters have had to adapt to a multiplatform environment with user-generated content.

 

Many courses specifically for broadcast journalists do not cover all the skills you will need to change sectors. Shorthand, news writing, local government and court reporting skills are often over-looked in broadcast journalism courses. It’s much easier to move into broadcast journalism from print journalism than vice-versa. That’s why so many illustrious NCTJ alumni are broadcast journalists who previously cut their teeth as newspaper reporters and why so many broadcast editors value NCTJ qualifications so highly.

 

If you are particularly interested in broadcast journalism and want to keep as many career opportunities open to you as possible you can choose an NCTJ-accredited course which includes the essential skills required for all media. Look at the detailed descriptions of courses to see if they cover a wider range of broadcast skills such as script writing, voice training and broadcast regulation. Check carefully as some courses may expect you to specialise in a particular journalism pathway and you may not have the opportunity to cover all the core journalism skills.