Trainee Reporter

Newsquest Cambridgeshire is looking for a new trainee reporter to join our busy, friendly news team in Cambridgeshire 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 which produces: The Hunts Post and Ely Standard weekly printed titles and associated websites, plus the Cambs Times, Wisbech Standard and Peterborough Matters online.

We need a reporter who will take ownership of growing our online audience in Cambridgeshire and someone who can respond to breaking news stories and is equally comfortable with features and community news.

It’s an exciting and varied job. You could be doing a Facebook Live report for an event; running a live blog from a breaking news incident, and writing a heart-warming community story all on the same shift.

The role will involve some weekend work on a rota basis 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 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, or talking to people who have suffered bereavement or injustice.

Our reporters are expected to meet audience 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 (we can offer top-up shorthand tuition for the right candidate) 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.

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.

We offer a competitive starting salary plus benefits including:

25 days annual leave, plus statutory bank holidays and your birthday day off!
Contributory Pension
Perks and discounts at various retail outlets
Opportunities for team building and training days.
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

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 now no later than Friday, December 8.