Many journalists spend part, or all, of their career working on a freelance basis.

Although you will spend much of your time working on a computer and on the phone, the work will also involve some travelling to meet people or to cover events, often at short notice.

Offices are usually open plan and may be noisy.

You need to be flexible to accommodate for breaking news and deadlines. Early in your career, you're likely to work an early or late shift pattern. Journalists quite frequently work long or unsocial hours. Income figures are intended as a guide only. Share options and bonuses, reflecting the paper's performance, may bolster salaries at senior editor level. Your salary could be higher if you're working for a national newspaper.

Although there's wide variation between regional and national newspapers, salaries for journalists with up to five years' experience generally rise to around £25,000, while those with a decade's experience or more can expect around £35,000 to £40,000.

When you're starting out as a trainee reporter, your salary could be as low as £12,000 to £15,000, depending on whether you're working for a local, regional or national paper.

In the sector, reporters working in newspapers and magazines have the lowest average salaries.

'live' online reporting or real-time blogging when covering important events - a growing area of work, especially on national newspapers.creating and uploading news content for the newspaper website.writing shorter, 'filler' stories to entertain, and researching and writing longer feature articles, sometimes for subsidiary publications and supplements.producing concise and accurate copy according to the newspaper's house style and to strict deadlines - daily newspapers may have several each day.recording interviews and meetings using shorthand or technical equipment.working closely with the news team, photographers and editors.answering the phones on the news desk and reacting to breaking news stories.

attending a range of events, such as council meetings, magistrates' court proceedings, football matches, talent contests, etc.attending press conferences and asking questions.seeking out and investigating stories via your contacts, press releases and other media.building contacts in many areas to maintain a flow of news, such as with the police and emergency services, local council, community groups, health trusts, press officers from a variety of organisations and the general public.interviewing people in a range of different circumstances.ResponsibilitiesĪs a newspaper journalist, your duties will include: Newspaper journalism is becoming increasingly multi-platform, making IT, web and broadcast skills highly valuable. They may work on layout, photography and sub-editing, as well as write stories. On smaller newspapers journalists have to multitask. Correspondents are specialists in one field or location, while feature writers, who cover topics in greater depth, often use a more personal style. Junior reporters usually write up stories allocated to them by the news desk, which they then pass to the news editor before they're handed to sub-editors. There are a number of roles within newspaper journalism. They also cover national and local events, entertainment and human interest stories. They report on news and politics, as well as on sports, arts and culture, science and business. Newspaper journalists research and write stories for national, regional and local press. To succeed as a journalist on a local or national newspaper you'll need determination and the ability to research and write accurate stories to tight deadlines

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