Journalism especially political journalism can often feel like a very exclusive sector, with many people obtaining jobs through connections or having worked up to their roles due to decades of experience.
However, due to the constant demand for journalists to cover the growing number of stories on both a national level and international level, companies are always looking for new talent.
So here’s some top tips that may help you land a job in political journalism :
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Connections ! - are incredibly important not only can they help provide advice and direction , but they could also potentially recommend you to others dependent on your reputation and provide you an insight into what goes on behind close doors. Building up a good contact book can take time , however its incredibly valuable you could start by going to think tank events , talks, speeches where you will start meeting other people like you who are interested in politics and who could be useful contacts in the future. Universities are constantly providing guest lectures so its a good place to start.
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Absorb and read all the political news you can find - Reading heavily around your subject and making sure you know what types of stories all the papers and news organisations run is vital , you should aim to read from a variety of outlets even if you don’t agree with their outlook. Top organisations include :
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France 24 - International breaking news, top stories and headlines
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Obtain as many work placements as you can - Any placement or work experience stint will be helpful for your development as a reporter. Start off with your local papers and work way up to the nationals. Experience can also be gained at your university with the student magazine , student TV or student radio,
Also take a look at this digital news summer school : Digital News Academy | News Academy -
Start thinking about ideas and stories - Look for ways to make yourself stand out, this could involve putting in FOIs, coming up with good ideas for stories and picking up tips to investigate. Study the plethora of documents released on gov.uk and parliament.uk and look out for potential stories.
An extensive list of journalism graduate and trainee schemes can be found below : Journalism Graduate Schemes: The Complete List (journoresources.org.uk)