Trainee reporter

Award-winning newspaper the Bucks Free Press is looking for a talented trainee news reporter to join our team.

We are seeking an ambitious, digitally skilled and versatile journalist to unearth the best breaking news, features, leisure and trending stories on an incredibly lively patch.

Key responsibilities

A double-winner of Weekly Newspaper of the Year at the Regional Press Awards, this represents a rare opportunity to join one of the UK’s strongest titles.

A big part of the job will also be immersing yourself in social media, developing relationships and understanding what matters to the community.

We want to tell the stories our audiences care about - from covering crime and local politics to telling powerful human interests and championing the best of our local communities. 

You will also ask the questions that hold power to account and want to play a part in helping communities build back following the pandemic.

Ideally, you will be an outstanding trainee with gold standard NCTJ preliminary qualifications and 100wpm or a fully qualified senior reporter.

If you have a journalism degree that is not NCTJ-accredited we will provide the relevant additional training for you to become a fully NCTJ-qualified journalist.

A driving licence is essential, as is access to a car. We work on a rota basis with some early and late shifts as well as some weekend work.

Skills, knowledge and expertise

• Excellent knowledge of relevant media law 
• A versatile, fresh and energetic writing style 
• Exceptional attention to detail 
• The ability to write – and think – quickly under pressure 
• An adaptable style to produce everything from live blogs and listicles to long reads and features 
• Skills with shooting and editing video as well as online tools and apps for producing images and audio 
• Bags of ideas for how stories can be presented in the best possible way for our audiences 
• Knowledge of SEO and its importance to digital journalism 
• Excellent social media skills and the ability to spot stories and trending topics 
• Great people skills and the ability to get on with a wide range of people in the community 
• A high level of organisation and the ability to manage your diary 
• Collaborative skills to pool ideas with the wider digital reporting team and take on board suggestion

About Newsquest Media Group

We are a media company with a difference. We are committed to bringing a voice to your region by investing in a passionate team of journalists who proudly serve their communities by sharing authoritative news that readers trust. Our sales teams provide local businesses with highly responsive digital advertising and marketing solutions.

We are one of the largest regional news publishers in the UK and have a portfolio of more than 250+ local news brands and magazines online and in print. With an online audience of 41 million users a month and 7 million readers a week in print, our content is read by a substantial proportion of the UK population.

In addition to our local news brands, we own a number of digital pure play and specialist media businesses such as s1jobs and s1homes, Exchange & Mart, and Newsquest Specialist Media. We also own LOCALiQ, an award-winning digital marketing agency that specialises in driving more leads, increasing online growth and generating return on marketing investment on behalf of thousands of UK SMBs.