NCTJ launches courses for UK working journalists

The following was published on holdthefrontpage.co.uk:

New training is being offered to help working reporters adapt to the requirements of modern newsrooms.

The National Council for the Training of Journalists has launched a series of courses offering training on investigative journalism, podcasting, video and visualization, political journalism, media law and reporting the cost of living.

The courses will be available via the NCTJ’s Journalism Skills Academy e-learning platform and also cover skills such as video, data and analytics, search engine optimization and social media.

The program offers shorter ‘lunch and learn’ and ‘teatime training’ sessions for working journalists, which the NCTJ says reflects the “day-to-day demands of the newsroom”, while longer and more in-depth mastercalsses will also be available.

The programme’s launch follows an industry survey by the charity in which more than 80pc of respondents asked for shorter courses to fit into their day.

Head of the JSA Laura Adams, pictured, said: “We understand how important it is for journalists from all backgrounds and experiences to be up to speed with the latest skills needed for different content operations.

“These new courses across a range of subjects will give learners the knowledge and expertise to develop their journalistic skills and give them more confidence to do their jobs.

“We are also aware that journalists don’t always have the time to engage in time-consuming training and the duration of both the e-learning and virtual training courses reflect that.”

Other courses available via the JSA include investigative journalism, business and economics, analytics, data visualisation, safety and resilience for journalists and reporting on climate change.