Navigation trail

• Home page
• Types of jobs
• Publishing and journalism
• Newspaper journalist: Job description and activities

Newspaper journalist: Job description and activities

Job description

Newspaper journalists research and write stories for publication in local, regional and national press. Increasingly, they are also expected to write ‘platform neutral’ pieces, which will appear in print, online and in broadcast form. 

Junior reporters are allocated work from the news desk and submit stories to the news editor, who passes it on to a team of sub-editors. Multi-tasking may be involved on smaller papers, covering photography, sub-editing, illustration and layout.

Newspaper journalists cover many topics, including news, politics, culture, sport and science. They also write about local and national events, entertainment, lifestyle and human interest stories. Correspondents cover specific geographical areas, or specialist subjects. Feature writers produce more in-depth pieces with a personal voice.

Typical work activities

Typical work activities include:

• interviewing people in a range of different circumstances;
• building contacts to maintain a flow of news, e.g. police and emergency services, local council, community groups, health trusts, press officers from a variety of organisations, the general public, etc.;
• seeking out and investigating stories via your contacts, press releases and other media;
• attending press conferences and asking questions;
• attending a variety of events, such as council meetings, magistrates' court proceedings, football matches, talent contests, etc;
• answering the phones on the news desk and reacting to breaking news stories;
• working closely with the news team, photographers and editors;
• recording interviews and meetings using shorthand or technical equipment;
• producing concise and accurate copy according to the newspaper's house style, and to strict deadlines - daily papers may have several each day;
• writing short ‘fillers’ to entertain, and researching and writing longer feature articles, sometimes for subsidiary publications and supplements;
• creating and uploading news content for the newspaper website.

AGCAS

Written by Tim Reed, University of Kent

Last updated:

September 2009

© Copyright AGCAS & Graduate Prospects Ltd | Disclaimer