Wednesday, 30 January 2013

Broadcast Journalist Job Role

Broadcast journalists are responsible for investigating and reporting news on current affairs. They present this information through a non biased way for documentaries, news bulletins and other programmes for TV, Radio and Online. Exact duties for this job vary between the roles general work activities involve gathering information and generating ideas for news stories through varies sources then pitching the ideas to editiors and commisionors. Selecting best locations, pictures and using editorial judgement on the best way to approach a news story. Identifying necessary resources and advising on what to film and record.
Identifying potential people to interview preparing them and your questions before gathering information from the person and preparing timings for each news item and monitoring these during broadcast then deciding on the order of bulletins before and during broadcast.
Typical starting salary usually starts at £15,000-£22,000 a year then with 10-15 years experience increase up to £52,000 with £100,000 being offered in exceptional cases. Pay is often higher in television than radio with independent local radio stations offering the lowest. Working hours are usually unsocialable hours where shift work is common waking up early to cover regional and breakfast news or mid-morning until late for afternoon and evening bulletins and most broadcasters do not take public holidays. On air presenters are do not usually go out to cover stories may be more sociable. Many broadcast journalists are freelancers and have to relocate or travel due to availabiliy of work in another area. Job opportunities can be found across the UK usually in London or regional placed places. It is usually stressful and hard work having to work with strict deadlines and react when a story breaks out. There is alot of travelling and being away from home at night with overseas work occasional but more common for specialist corrospondents.
There are three main routes into Broadcast Journalism though positions are scarce direct entry into a traineeship is one way another is moving across from print journalist usually requiring around 7 years experience and pre entry by completing a degree or postgraduate qualification which is usually the most popular route. Although work is usually open to all graduates a degree in journalism, finance or politics may increase your chances with the postgraduate route the most common route to this profession. Work experince can also help with the BBC and ITV regional news both offering trainneship schemes. Aswell as this candidates have to show a interest in news, current affairs and a good general knowledge, good oral and written communication with the ability to generate original ideas.
Broadcasters usually begin as newsroom assistants or as a researcher before moving into a reporting role and as experince is gained there is a scope to specialise where some may want to become a senior broadcast role with responsibiliy for managing news staff and budgets whereas other may want to become a news anchor or presenter. Another option is a senior corrospondent on network news though there are few oppotunities in this. Also there are place in investigate journalism and documentary journalism and for people who want to be behind the scenes they may want to become programme editors or producers.
Radio offers slightly different routes with trainees given greater responsibility early on and depending on the size of the station may even have sole responsibility for a newsroom from the outset where progression would usually be into larger commercial or network stations or into television.

Theartre Director Job Role

A Theatre Director overlooks the practical and interpretation of a script or musical score taking into account the budget and physical constraints of production being involved in all stages of the process.
They usually work on freelance or fixed term contracts and some of them are able to write, act, devise and design being able to add this to their project. Most theatres are headed by an executive administrator or general manager who are lead by a board, a local council or both. Large theatres may also have an artistic director who chooses plays to be produced in the theatre and is responsible for managing the company and its finances along with the administrator.
Some Theartres employ a full time director as an associate who works closely with the artistic director and directing some productions.
Salary depends upon the length and contract taken for example directing a small play would earn you around £903 per week whereas directing a big play may earn you upto £1305. The director themselve may negotiate their contracts or have an agent. Sometimes directors can be volenteers or work on their own companies with work hours involving weekend and evening work with many working more hours than contracted too. Travel is common with overseas work often being involved, the work can be highly frustrating and stressful but extreamly rewarding.

Although this area of work is open to all graduates a degree in the following would improve your chances..

  • English literature;
  • drama/theatre studies;
  • music;
  • creative/performing arts;
  • languages;
  • humanities-based subjects involving thought, reflection and interpretation, e.g. philosophy, history, psychology.
also HND/Foundation degree in creative/performing arts, drama/theatre, music or arts community may also improve your chances. Also gaining pratical experience in acting, stage management and direction on amateur or fringe theatre will also help.

First appointments are usually on a small scale like touring with a small company but many come from self started companies. To progress in this career you need reputation and individual style, experience, funding, work being seen from other venues and flexibility where ten years experience is usually enough to secure a senior post.

Newspaper journlist Job Role

As a newspaper journalist you'd write stories and do research into to news stories such as sport, politics and different other news headlines. For a national newspaper they would report on news stories from all over the country and parts of the world whilst for the local it would be local news to be put into a local advertiser for that area. In the article you would write infromation about what has happened maybe even putting a debate in there for people to discuss or interview people on their opinion or accounts of the situation.

A trainee reporter would start off at £15,000 a year but for local may start as low as £12,000 a year expecting rises of £1500-£3000 as you go through the training. Average salary for journalist is usually £24,500 a year but salaries vary for journalists with between one to four years' experience are £14,900 to £24,350. For those with five to nine years' experience it is £21,700 to £35,000. With over ten years' experience you can expect a salary starting at £22,000 to £39,000.

Entry without a degree is becoming more difficult for journalism and usually editors are more interested with people in specialst degree subject such as sports or sciences with more than 60% entering graduates. They can choose to enter from several routes one of which is full time, one year post graduate courses which give you a postgraduate or Masters degree. Another is a fast track option usually lasting 18-20 week postgraduate courses.
Career development may involve joining the news desk by moving into news management.

Technical Jobs

Technical jobs are jobs in which you have to use your imagination to make the film look and sound good. For example camera operators have to think of the way the camera can make the film look good by using different camera techniques and angles to create atmosphere during the film. A Sound Engineer tries to get the best audio out of what is happening for the film a good example if the film is an action genre then the Sound Engineer will try to make the action noises such as explosions or gunfire stand out more. A computer programmer is an important role as he has to create visual effects for a character or special effects and that the visual effects happen on time and effectively.

Marketing Jobs

A sales executive is a person who tries to sell their companies stock or service and trying to maintain relationships with exisiting customers and building relationships with new customers. The producer can deal with the distribution of the film and who gets it known out there.

Managerial Jobs

Is a job in which someone manages a group of people instructing them what to do for the best possible outcome. Is someones job who manages a group of people under the same job a director is a good example of this as he manages a group of people who are making the production.

Legal Jobs

A Media Lawyer is someone who works in the media industry sorting out any legal proceedings that may happen. You must attend a law school in order and do a media law course which is not offered at some law schools. There is 3 areas in media law the first of which is print which involves newspapers, magazines and so on. The next is telecommunications such as Television and Media. Finally the last one is digital communications such as the internet. They handle issues such as copyright, privacy and any slander recieved.

Job Role Types


There are 8 different job areas that combine to create the media industry, these include all aspects to successfully run every part of the trade. These 8 different areas are:



·         Creative
·         Technical
·         Editorial
·         Marketing
·         Managerial
·         Administrative
·         Legal
·         Financial

Financial Jobs

Film Accountants manage the budget and handling financial situations during film productions, they work with the producer and production staff preparing scheudles and budgets for film productions.

Editorial Jobs

A scriptwriter in the media industry can make a massive influence on how a film pans out. A scriptwriter will usually write out a story he finds good to fit the film then reread his work and make changes to strength the script and make additions he thinks will make the film better.

Creative Jobs

Creative jobs are jobs in which you have to use your imagination to create and produce work. A good example of this is a director who has to direct things which in imaginative ways which will keep the audience excited. Also artists who create characters for a show giving ideas of what the person looks like and how the character acts through his appearance

Administrative Jobs

A secretary or administrator is someone who provides clerical and administrative support to professionals either individually or as part of a team. These play a vital role in the smooth running of businesses being involved in with the coordination and implementation of office procedures and have responsibility for specific projects and tasks.
Secretarial/administrative work has changed significantly over the years, and the role varies depends on the sector and levels of responsibility. Most work involves both written and communication, word processing and typing, and requires relevant skills such as IT, organisational and presentation skills, as well as the ability to multi-task and work well under pressure. Within specialist sectors such as law, many secretaries/administrators are required to have relevant, high-level qualifications or previous experience.