Broadcast Journalist

• victims of crime, or their relatives;
• celebrities;
• members of the public.

• monitoring newswires for breaking stories and updates;
• keeping track of the latest developments, such as court decisions and press conferences;
• identifying stories for follow-up and marketing your ideas to the editor;
• researching news items and establishing useful contacts;
• assessing the situation on location and deciding on the best way to present a story;
• setting up and conducting interviews, on or off camera/tape;
• preparing scripts;
• supervising the editing of the final tape or film report;
• working autocue, running scripts or fetching tapes;
• selecting stories for bulletins and making appropriate changes when new stories break;
• deciding on the best order for stories within the programme, based on their nature/content;
• using specialised computer software and studio equipment;
• preparing exact timings for the reading of each news item;
• monitoring timings during broadcast;
• keeping presenters advised of timings;
• making necessary changes during the programme;
• giving technical directions;
• presenting directly in radio, studio or direct to camera;
• contributing programme ideas.

• Pay tends to be higher in TV than radio (the lower end of the starting salary range would be relevant to some independent local radio posts). Additional allowances may be paid for shift work and unsocial hours. In London, a weighting may be available. Salaries for the experienced vary considerably, although correspondents tend to earn more in general. Reporters are often on individually negotiated National Union of Journalists (NUJ) contracts.
• Working hours typically include regular unsocial hours. Shift work is common and prospective broadcast journalists need to be flexible about the hours they work: you may start early in the morning to cover regional news on breakfast radio/TV shows; alternatively, you may start mid morning and work until evening. Weekend work is often required and most broadcasters do not take public holidays. On-air presenters are less likely to go out on location to cover stories and their working hours may be more predictable/social.
• Jobs are quite widely available. Work for national stations may be regionally or London based. There are far more posts as local journalists on regional stations, especially in radio. Digital audio broadcasting (DAB) has opened up even more opportunities in radio.
• It is often necessary to take work on short-term contracts (permanent contracts are rare and competition is high). It may be necessary to move around to secure a new contract when one finishes.
• Women are well represented in regional and national reporting jobs but under-represented at senior management level.
• The work can be stressful due to regular deadlines, working with minimal preparation time and the need to originate stories. You may be in contact with members of the public or celebrities at times of crisis in their lives, which can be stressful for the interviewer.
• There is frequent travel within a working day and absence from home at night. Overseas work or travel is occasional

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