Journalism Researcher, BBC Monitoring
PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: £25,000 – £32,000 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience + London Weighting. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.
We’re happy to discuss flexible working. If you’d like to, please indicate your preference in the application – though there’s no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.
PURPOSE OF THE ROLE
We are recruiting two journalism researchers to join our reference team. You will research thematic, regional, and country-specific topics to produce and maintain content, including media and political profiles, key figures, and global themes. You’ll ensure reference material is current and comprehensive, plan for upcoming events, and produce timely tip-offs, media reviews, news reports, and background information. You’ll contribute story ideas, explore emerging narratives—often from a data perspective—and support strategic research planning. This role requires initiative, flexibility, and close collaboration with production teams.
WHY JOIN THE TEAM
No other media organisation has an operation like BBC Monitoring, with its ability to track, decipher and analyse news media in dozens of languages. Our detailed knowledge of complex media environments in the non-Western world puts us in a unique position to spot unusual media behaviour or evolving propaganda tactics which could act as an early warning system for shifting geopolitical or societal dynamics. Our expertise stems from access to hard-to-reach sources, knowledge of a particular region or topic and fluency of a combination of languages. Whether the story is about jihadism, media freedom, propaganda, disinformation, or social media’s potential to be a force for change, we can offer a unique perspective. https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk
YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT:
• Research thematic, regional, and country-specific information to produce and maintain content, including profiles of political personalities, organisations, media outlets, and global or regional themes.
• Ensure Reference content is comprehensive and current by being proactive and meticulous, reprioritising as needed, and planning for upcoming events.
• Monitor local sources to produce timely tip-offs, news updates, diary entries, and detailed background information.
• Contribute story ideas and new angles on emerging narratives and long-running stories, including from a data perspective, and feed into the daily news agenda.
• Work collaboratively with BBC Monitoring and wider BBC teams on regular output, bespoke products, and strategic planning.
• Contribute to data projects, including data collection and managing Excel spreadsheets, and prepare multimedia elements like images for publication.
• Learn and use data reference and news production systems effectively.
YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:
• Excellent level of spoken and written English with extensive demonstrable experience of writing and editing in English
• In-depth knowledge of BBC Monitoring’s editorial operation and significant demonstrable experience of BBC Monitoring’s reference content and production tools including Fonto XML
• Proven research skills, editorial judgement and attention to detail, and ability to ensure all output produced adheres to the highest standards and is consistent with BBC editorial guidelines and style
• Detailed knowledge and understanding of international news and of media developments globally, in a thematic or geographic region of specialism and has the capability to work on any country or region as tasked
• Ability to plan, prioritise, communicate effectively and to present complex information and ideas clearly and concisely
DESIRED BUT NOT REQUIRED:
• Knowledge of foreign languages
• Experience in working with Excel and large data sets
• Experience of developing staff through training and mentoring; ability to provide consistent and timely editorial feedback
