This post will just be about the different approaches that you can take in order to become a journalist. Luckily, there are many ways that don't exclude those who have taken certain degrees, or those who are looking for a career-change. Here a few choices:
- Get a degree
So I am about two-thirds there. A lot of jobs in journalism now ask for a 2.1 (sometimes a 2.2) in any degree, although certain roles, such as a scientific writer, may ask for a science degree rather than a humanities degree. A degree in journalism is not necessarily, and not necessarily a better choice as it narrows your job prospects so the general advice is to do something in university that you enjoy or opens other doors (as a degree in journalism will not guarantee you a job)
- Get a masters
After I graduate with my BA in English Literature, to follow with a masters in Journalism in a university in London like City or Goldsmiths is another possible path to take. A good route to take, however, a masters takes about nine months to one year if full-time or two years part-time, and depends on whether you want to take out a loan to fund your masters, if you want to choose a masters over a years of possible work experience. It all depends on what you think will be best for you
- Courses
If you want to continue education that specialize in journalism but take a shorter amount of time than a masters, you would be advised to take an National Council for the Training of Journalists course (NCTJ) This provides an introduction into journalism, and candidates who become certified can gain a heads start, and some national newspapers will request that candidates are NCTJ qualified. Some masters at universities will also result in the student being NCTJ qualified - City University an exception to this
Different courses can be found on the NCTJ website that will lead to the Diploma in Journalism. They can take around four months and vary in price according to where you decide to go to study. Some courses will involve going into certain institutions you study at once a week or so and can be around 3000 to 4000 pounds (expect the higher end of the price in London-based institutions). Here is the website below:
http://www.nctj.com/want-to-be-a-journalist/course-search
For example, possible institutions in London includes Brunel University, Harlow College, Kingston University, Lambeth College, News Associates, St Mary's University and Press Association Training, therefore offering a wide variety of different types of journalism courses.
Lambeth college, for example, offers NCTJ accredited Newspaper Journalism: NCTJ Level 3 Diploma and Magazine Journalism: NCTJ Level 3 Diploma. The Newspaper Journalism course runs for 18 weeks full-time and costs vary depending on age from £525 to £2500 with a variety of loans and bursaries depending on personal situation.
If you are interested in NCTJ courses, the below link shows the top-performing results table:
http://www.nctj.com/want-to-be-a-journalist/Accreditedcourses/Resultstables
- Without a degree
Its a toughie but it is possible to get into journalism without a degree or course. Certain national newspapers offer training contracts such as ITVs Traineeship/Apprenticeship that offer a different route into journalism. Looking at all the national newspapers offers as well as other news companies such as Press Association can certain apprenticeships be found. When trying to get into journalism, work experience is cared about most as it is the best way in order to communicate your passion and commitment to the career. Most national, regional and local newspapers, as well as publishing companies, offers work experience from a week to a month, that are advertised on various websites that I'll be covering in another post. As these are also very competitive, it helps to look around for writing for online news or magazine outlets or do some blogging on a topic you enjoy to gain some writing experience.
More on work experience will be discussed in greater detail in my upcoming posts so never fear! Hope this post has been helpful and thanks for reading
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