Do you care about what goes on around you, wish your community had a louder voice, and want to make a difference?
Have you ever wanted to become a journalist?
Thanks to funding from Meta, we are looking to recruit an apprentice or trainee reporter for the community news project, to join the team at our offices in Reading.
The Community News Project is a partnership between the NCTJ, Meta (formerly Facebook) and local news publishers, the project is creating 100 community reporter roles in newsrooms covering underserved communities in England, Scotland and Wales.
What will the community reporter for South Reading/Shinfield do?
As a community reporter, your main role will be to engage with people in the communities of South Reading and Shinfield, to curate, collate and create content relevant to them.
You will build and act as the point of contact for online communities by engaging with and seeking out content either written by you or from members of those communities.
You will also receive industry-leading digital journalism training for you to then share into the newsroom, as well as the gold-standard NCTJ journalism training to become a fully-trained journalist.
This is a fixed-term contract for two years.
Two routes of entry
For applicants with no previous journalism experience or education, we are offering a journalism apprenticeship, which combines training with on-the-job experience.
For applicants with previous journalism experience or education, there is a trainee role where support will be provided to obtain the necessary NCTJ qualifications to become a senior reporter.
We are particularly keen to increase diversity in our newsroom and offer opportunities to those who may not have felt able to break into the media industry.
We are open-minded about whether we take on an apprentice or trainee; what is more important to us is finding somebody who recognises how local news can help inform and improve lives and who wants to get involved and support the communities we serve.
What training will I undertake?
All reporters will work towards an NCTJ qualification either as a standalone qualification or as part of an apprenticeship. Recruits will either study towards the Diploma in Journalism, or the National Qualification in Journalism for those who already have the diploma.
Reporters will also attend digital skills training from Meta and receive regular, additional training support from the NCTJ.
How to apply
To apply, email David Riley at driley@wokingham.today by Friday, April 1. Include a CV and a brief outline of why you would like the role and why we should choose you for it.
