Hold the front page! I want to be a journalist

Stop press! There are five small words every journalist knows: - Who? What? Where? When? Why? If you want to be a journalist you'll answer all of them - every day!

Who?
Are you the right person to do this job? Journalism sounds very exotic - you'll meet lots of interesting people and may get to cover a number of intriguing stories. There's nothing quite like having your name at the end of the piece you've put your heart into (that's called a by-line by the way!). But it can be hard work, uninspiring and involve lots of physical exercise!!

Ask yourself - are you good with words and can you spell and punctuate? Are you happy talking to people, researching and finding out the facts behind a story? Can you construct an argument and convey information and passion with words? Are you pretty flexible and adaptable, could you write on almost anything?

All these skills and qualities are important in the daily work of a journalist. You will also need good IT skills and a real interest in journalism generally.

But remember that the daily work you do is also affected by the kind of journalism you get involved in…

What?
What kind of journalism are you interested in? There are lots of different kinds.

Local papers
The papers will probably cover local events, political visits and information that's interesting to your town. Pick up your local papers and have a look. Often reporters on the wider area papers start on the main free paper of the area.

National papers
You know them all, covering national and international events and coming out every day rather than the weekly schedules of some locals. They're high powered and difficult but challenging to work on. You may be asked to write articles at very short notice, and you'd better be sure that your information is accurate or you could be in serious trouble! Eventually you may get to write features and finally your own column.

Magazines
There are endless magazines your choice won't just be limited to the Cosmopolitans, GQs and NMEs of this world. There are magazines devoted to buffalo farming, zookeeping, vintage cards, whatever the interest is you can be sure there's a magazine devoted to it.

And who do you think writes the in-store magazines, the supermarket magazines and those you see on trains, free to the traveller? Often these magazines are outsourced to an agency who publish magazines for lots of different clients.

Broadcast and online journalism
Who do you think writes news? You could be working on the bulletins desk in radio or as a newsroom-based journalist in television. Here you will need to respond quickly to breaking stories, and work across a variety of different subject areas. You will also have to write copy (basically articles) that communicate when being spoken.

And what about the up to the minute sports reports that you can get from websites such as sportal.com? Slightly different work from features to short news pieces and obviously you are going to have to write copy that communicates well when read.

Where?
Where are you going to get the skills to do the job?

There are 3 main ways of getting into a career in journalism

1. Get training
   Most papers and magazines will prefer you to have a degree, which doesn't have to be media or journalism related. Once you have that most large papers and broadcasters have training courses which will teach you everything you need to know, whilst giving you experience and a job at the end of it. Be warned though, the places are fought over!
2. Do a course
   There are courses all over the country which will give you the skills of journalism - writing, investigation and the IT skills you'll need - to go out and secure a job. The NCTJ - the official training body for journalists - accredits courses throughout the UK, from day release to full time undergraduate. It's best to get your training from one of these because they're well respected. There's likely to be one near to you have a look on their website - http://www.nctj.co.uk/courses_fulltime.htm.
3. Freelance
   Magazines and local newspapers need articles and if you can come up with an article that would be of interest to the readers of any magazine you may find that you will get paid for it! Research and write your article and then send it (on white paper, double-spaced with a margin of an inch on either side and with a polite covering letter outlining what the article contains) to the editor and hope for a response! Don't worry if you are rejected - Watership Down was rejected 40 or more times so you are in good company! Incidentally, this is a good way to start writing for some of the music papers. Go to a gig, write a review and send it in!

When?
Training
Training courses usually take graduates or school leavers any time after they've got their qualification. In fact, until you're about 30 editors will happily accept you on training courses. Many of them like to take on people mid-career because they have a breadth of experience and settled home-life.

Freelance work
Good news - you can do this at any time. So get writing!

Why?
Finally, why should you be taken on as a journalist? Once course providers or employers know you have the skills what will make you stand out?

Experience.

Lots of people want to get into journalism and what makes the serious candidates stand out is that they have bothered to get work experience - it's as simple as that. You might get experience writing on your school or university newspaper, or for a national youth paper like Children's Express (http://www.cenews.org/).

You could also get experience on your local newspaper or even a national newspaper or magazine. Write to the editor of the paper and outline the fact that you are interested in becoming a journalist and the dates when you are free.

Now you've answered all the questions get out there and start writing! And by the way - you can write for us too. Email us at brilliantcareers@channel4.co.uk and we'll discuss it!

by Katie Streten