Broadcast journalist

You would investigate news events, speak to the people involved and present the stories on television, radio or the internet to tell people what’s happened.

You’d need to work quickly to put together sound and pictures to make an accurate story that informs the public. You could present it as either as recording or speak live in the studio or from an outside broadcast.

As a journalist on national TV, radio or an internet news service, you would research and report on UK and international stories. You might specialise in a particular type of news, such as political or sports reporting. In regional TV and radio, you would focus on local news.

You would:

• Follow story 'leads', or generate story ideas
• Research stories, using your contacts and sources such as the internet, archives and databases
• Visit locations and decide on the best way of presenting a story
• Write scripts, website or social media content
• Prepare interview questions and conduct live and pre-recorded interviews
• Present in TV or radio studios or on location, and record voiceovers for recorded material
• Ask questions at briefings and press conferences

You would direct a small camera and sound crew or possibly operate recording equipment yourself.

Then you’d edit stories to fit scheduled timings. You might decide on the best running order for bulletins and make changes to programmes as new stories break.

You’d need an understanding of what makes a good news story. Having a creative approach with the ability to improvise when necessary would also be important.

In many jobs you would be part of a production team. This could include other journalists, researchers, editors, broadcast assistants and producers.

In small commercial radio stations you might run a newsroom single-handed.