Trainee News and Sport Reporter

Newsquest South West is looking for a new trainee news and sports reporter to join our team in North Somerset. This role is suited to a trainee who has completed their NCTJ diploma and is ready to make an immediate impact reporting on an area with big ambitions and bags of potential.

You will be part of a team that produces the Weston Mercury and the North Somerset Times.

We need a reporter who will take ownership of growing our online audience in the wider North Somerset area, as well as helping report on Weston-super-Mare and breaking news across the patch.

The successful candidate will also take responsibility for our sports coverage from the Weston-super-Mare and wider North Somerset area.

It’s an exciting and varied job. You could be doing a Facebook Live report from a town centre during a food festival, running a live blog from a big football match, and writing a heart-warming community story all on the same shift.

The role will involve weekend work to enable comprehensive sports coverage, once you’ve established yourself in the team.

We’ll give you the on-the-job training and support needed to help you become a first-class senior reporter in a lively patch, working for one of the UK’s biggest news publishers.

About you

This role suits a trainee who can make an impact, with big ideas and ambitions, an eye for a story and a flair for social media.

You’ll be expected to make contacts on your patch and find great stories. As a news and sport reporter you have to be there at the best and worst times in people’s lives and you need to handle both appropriately. You could be talking to business owners about how they are tackling the cost of living crisis, talking to people who have suffered bereavement or injustice, or interviewing a coach following a controversial game.

Our reporters are expected to meet audience and subscription benchmarks, which means learning how to find a good story, how to tell it across different platforms and how to get it in front of more people through social media and SEO.

The ideal candidate will already have the gold standard NCTJ diploma including shorthand and a driving licence, but the right attitude is more important.

We are an inclusive workplace and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

We don’t expect you to know it all on day one, but we do expect a can-do attitude and keenness to learn. If you do, you’ll get lots of support and be part of a great team.

If this sounds like the job for you, please apply with your CV, cover letter, examples of your published work and three great story ideas you’d like to follow up in your first week, by clicking Apply no later than Tuesday, February 6.

About us

As part of Newsquest, you will join one of the biggest publishing companies in the UK. There is plenty of opportunity to develop your career across our titles, in North Somerset and beyond.

As well as a competitive salary, we also offer a financial bonus incentive for reporters who achieve audience and subscription targets, and generous benefits including:

Contributory pension
Perks and discounts at various retail outlets
Opportunities for team building and training days
25 days' paid holiday + statutory bank holidays + your birthday day off.
Structured career progression, ongoing training, and personal performance reviews
Discount Vouchers
Discounted Gym membership
Cycle to Work scheme
Mental Health Support via Lifeworks
Eye test vouchers plus £50 towards new glasses.
Annual Volunteer Charity Day

Newsquest Media Group is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all community sections regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. Our recruitment process will consist of various stages and activities, as part of our commitment to fairness to all applicants, we will take into account any adjustments that could help you.