New journalism role to give communities in north-west Highlands and north Sutherland a stronger voice
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An opportunity to highlight what is happening across the north-west Highlands and to give communities in the area a stronger voice has been launched.
As part of a project with Meta – formerly known as Facebook – and the NCTJ, the leading professional training body for journalists in the UK, Highland News and Media (HNM) is looking for a trainee community news reporter.
This new role aims to help the area be better served by news media and extend the depth of coverage in parts of the Highlands which have been historically under-served.
The Community News Project was originally launched in 2019 as a two-year pilot programme designed to support local journalism and improve the diversity of journalists in UK newsrooms by recruiting and training at least 80 community reporters towards NCTJ qualifications.
In November 2021, Meta confirmed it would provide funding for a further two years, to expand the scheme to create up to 100 community reporter roles. HNM successfully applied to take part in this latest phase of the project, meaning a new journalism role has been created to cover the patch, which stretches north from Ullapool via Lochinver to Durness and east to Bettyhill.
Unlike most positions within the industry, no previous journalism experience or specific qualifications are necessary, and the successful candidate will be given full training by the NCTJ as part of the role.
John Davidson, HNM's content and commercial editor covering the north Highlands, said: "We're really excited to be able to create this new role thanks to the Community News Project. The north-west Highlands is not only a beautiful place to live but is full of active communities which are doing so much for themselves.
"It's too easy for these areas to seem cut off or remote, and we wanted to ensure their voices could be heard through trusted news media.
"The successful candidate won't necessarily be the same type of person we might traditionally employ. It's far more important for them to be passionate about local news and to care for their community and want to make a difference in their area.
"The fact that professional training as well as some exciting digital innovations will be taught as part of the role means this is a genuinely exciting opportunity to get into the industry and help shape its future."
The new trainee community reporter will be based in the north-west Highlands and will engage with local people to curate, collate and create content relevant to them, including through use of images, video and graphics as well as text.
They will receive industry-leading digital journalism training as well as gold-standard NCTJ journalism training to become a fully qualified journalist.
For more information about the role and to apply, visit: www.hnmedia.co.uk/careers
