Broadcast Journalist: Job Duties, Career Outlook, and Education Prerequisites
Explore the career requirements for broadcast journalists. Get the facts about education, job growth and salary to determine if this is the right career for you.
What Is a Broadcast Journalist?
Broadcast journalists develop and deliver news stories via television and radio in markets of all sizes. Typically, they are given an assignment which they must research and develop into a story. This might entail investigating the background of a story, following leads and conducting interviews. Professionals in this career may find it helpful to create and maintain working relationships with others who are credible sources of information. Once a story comes together, these journalists prepare it for broadcast, whether by writing or editing content. The following chart provides an overview about becoming a broadcast journalist.
<table border="1"><tr><td><b>Degree Required</b></td><td> Bachelor's degree</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Education Field of Study</b></td><td> Mass communication, journalism</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Key Responsibilities</b></td><td> Gather information for news stories; ascertain the accuracy of information or facts obtained; compile recorded information into a news report; reporting news stories live</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Job Growth (2020-2030)</b></td><td> 6% increase (for all news analysts, reporters, and journalists)*</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Average Salary (2020)</b></td><td> $66,000 (for all news analysts, reporters, and journalists)*</td></tr>
</table><p><i>Source: *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)</i>
</p><h3 id="section---WhatAreSomeJobDutiesOfABroadcastJournalist">What Are Some Job Duties of a Broadcast Journalist?</h3><p>Broadcast journalists conduct interviews and research, travel to the scenes of news events and write concise reports before broadcasting a story over the airwaves. In your career as a broadcast journalist, you might branch off into a specific medium such as radio, television, cable or the Internet.
</p><p>You could specialize in an area such as politics, sports or business. As a radio broadcast journalist, you'd gather audio sound bites for your reports and would need to be proficient with digital technologies. As a television broadcast journalist, you might often assemble video segments and work with editors to add visual impact to your on-air reports.
</p><h3 id="section---WhatEducationalPrerequisitesAreNeeded">What Educational Prerequisites Are Needed?</h3><p>A Bachelor of Arts in journalism, mass communications or communication is a typical choice if you aspire to become a broadcast journalist. Seek out programs with a strong journalism core accompanied by radio and television news and production courses. If you want to check out accredited journalism and communication programs, you might want to look into one of the more than 100 programs accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.
</p><p>Your communication curriculum might include class topics such as media literacy, announcing, communication theory and interpersonal communication. As a journalism major, you could study subjects such as news writing, photojournalism, reporting and research, online journalism and editorial reporting. Classes in computer science, foreign language, psychology and business could also be beneficial. In addition, you should attempt to gain work experience through internships and part-time work at college radio and television stations.
</p><h3 id="section---WhatIsTheCareerOutlook">What Is the Career Outlook?</h3><p>The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates that reporters and correspondents would experience a 6% increase in employment from 2020 through 2030 (<i>www.bls.gov</i>). Competition for broadcast positions could be tough in large city markets, with better prospects available at small stations for entry-level broadcasters. Technological advancements might contribute to work in new areas such as mobile news.
</p><p>According to the BLS, reporters and correspondents earned an average annual salary of $66,000 in 2020. Those who worked in radio and television earned a higher mean salary of $72,880. Salaries varied widely across the industry based upon the size and reach of the broadcasting stations.
</p><h3 id="section---WhatAreSomeRelatedAlternativeCareers">What Are Some Related Alternative Careers?</h3><p>There are a number of different career options that put people in the position to report information via television or radio. Radio announcers, for example, present information about upcoming songs, news reports and sporting events. Often, they also throw in personal input and build a radio personality. Meteorologists primarily study climate and weather patterns, but also present their predictions on television and radio to inform viewers and listeners about what they should expect.
</p><p>When it comes to the formation of stories, broadcast journalists and editors share many of the same responsibilities, editing content as necessary to make it presentable. Much of the investigative work done by broadcast journalists is similar to work done by both fiction and non-fiction authors and writers as well.</p>