New campaign from the NCTJ seeks to increase number of Gen Z journalists

The National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) has today launched a new campaign, ‘Where your story goes’, to inspire more young people to pursue a career in journalism. The campaign was produced by Livity, the youth-focused branch of full-service communications agency, krow Group.

Targeted at 14–18-year-olds, the campaign was born from research showing that although young people are interested in journalism, many don’t fully trust the news or feel it represents them. Surveys also revealed many young people still think of careers in journalism in terms of more traditional roles and are unaware of the huge range of opportunities and roles within the industry across media, from content production to podcasting, documentary making to editing.

To bridge these gaps, the campaign’s dedicated site features an interactive personality quiz for young people to explore which journalism roles could suit them best. They can also hear from five young journalists working in some of those roles at media companies including the BBC, Attitude Magazine, The Times, Southwark News and ITV News, through in-depth video interviews produced by Sata Studios.

In partnership with the Financial Times, a careers guide is also being distributed to over 35,000 teachers and education providers across the UK. The guide includes information on the different journalism careers available and why NCTJ offers the best route into the industry. NCTJ research showed 74% of working NCTJ graduates successfully found a journalism-related job, compared to just 28% of working journalism graduates surveyed by HESA.

The campaign will see assets go live across NCTJ socials and web pages, with media partners UCAS and Eric helping engage young people who are crucially looking for the next step in their career journey. Photography captured by up-and-coming photographers from Livity’s In Future List programme and wider youth network also features across the campaign.

A free digital version of the careers guide zine can be downloaded from the campaign site.

Alex Goat, CEO, Livity, says: “The integrity of journalism has never been more important than it is right now. It’s vital that young people regain trust in the reporting of news, and a keyway to achieve this is inspiring the next generation to take up careers in the industry. We’re excited to help young people understand the range of opportunities available and discover what true journalism is.”

Alex continues: “Running Live Magazine for over a decade helped us see how supporting early careers can transform lives and set up a strong future. We’re so proud to partner with the NCTJ on this campaign, as their training is the very best place to kick start careers.”

Joanne Forbes, chief executive of the NCTJ, said: “Journalism is one of the most important professions in a democratic society, yet many young people still feel it isn’t a career for them or don’t fully understand the opportunities available. This campaign is designed to open up that world and show young people the many ways they can build a career in journalism today – from reporting and investigations to podcasting, video production and data storytelling. We also hope that by helping more young people discover journalism earlier, we can strengthen the pipeline into high-quality training and ensure newsrooms continue to benefit from skilled, diverse and passionate new talent.”