NCTJ’s Journalism Skills Academy launches new programme of professional training

The NCTJ’s Journalism Skills Academy (JSA) is launching a new programme of professional training to support journalists as they develop their careers.

The new training resources – which are available this month – are aimed at ensuring reporters have the required skills to fulfil the needs of the modern content operation, with content expertise sourced from newsrooms across the industry.

The new cost-effective courses cover a range of subjects including data visualisation, investigative journalism and connecting with audiences. There will also be extended digital training for skills such as SEO, social media, data and analytics, and video.

The courses are available on the JSA’s e-learning platform and there will also be a new virtual training programme including ‘lunch and learn’ and ‘teatime training’ which are shorter sessions for working journalists, reflecting the day-to-day demands of the newsroom. Longer, in-depth, masterclasses will also be available.

The new course programme follows the NCTJ’s industry survey in which more than 80 per cent of respondents asked for shorter courses to fit into their day. The survey also showed that topics such as investigations, social media, political journalism and media law are among the most preferred choice of courses.

Laura Adams, head of the Journalism Skills Academy, said: “We understand how important it is for journalists from all backgrounds and experiences to be up to speed with the latest skills needed for different content operations.

“These new courses across a range of subjects will give learners the knowledge and expertise to develop their journalistic skills and give them more confidence to do their jobs.

“We are also aware that journalists don’t always have the time to engage in time-consuming training and the duration of both the e-learning and virtual training courses reflect that.”

The new e-learning courses, which will be released throughout January, include SEO and maximising audience reach, a journalist’s guide to social media, specialising in sports journalism, connecting with audiences and video and images: the power of visuals.

Courses already live include investigative journalism, data visualisation, safety and resilience for journalists, reporting on climate change, business and economics and analytics – understanding your audience.

The ‘lunch and learn’, ‘teatime training’ and masterclasses will launch in January to include investigative journalism, podcasting, video and visualisation, political journalism, media law and reporting the cost of living.

To view the e-learning courses, visit skillsacademy.nctj.com.