‘Skills and knowledge needed for modern journalists is at the heart of the new NQJ’

Andy Martin, who chairs the NCTJ’s qualifications board and is editor of Newsquest daily the Bournemouth Echo, explains some of the features of the new National Qualification in Journalism.
The media landscape continues to evolve constantly. Multimedia journalists are facing new challenges all the time. More and more is asked of them and newsrooms up and down the country are operating with fewer resources.
The skills and knowledge needed for journalists to be effective in the modern newsrooms and out in the community will be rigorously tested by the new National Qualification in Journalism (NQJ).
It will consist of three assessments, a media law, regulation and ethics exam, coverage of a breaking story, which has the working title of ‘The Big News Story’, and a logbook.
‘The Big News Story’ will be a thorough examination of the trainee’s ability to spot strong news angles, write compelling, accurate stories and produce a range of multi media content.
Editors have always demanded the basic newsgathering skills. In the digital age we need much more to ensure we are still the first and the best in an increasingly complex and competitive media environment.
Use of social media has become far more sophisticated, reporters need to be able to think visually, take photographs, shoot video and, really importantly, make good, fact-based decisions.
When I started in journalism, the ranks of news editors and editors made all the decisions. Today, a reporter is expected to manage and promote their stories, plan content and play their part in the print and digital production processes as well as analysing audience data from what they produce.
The new NQJ exam is designed to test a whole range of skills, under the pressure of time, as a major news event evolves which contains a number of twists and turns.
More and more NCTJ exams are moving online — the first was essential journalism, a mandatory part of the Diploma in Journalism — giving greater scope for exam-setters to mirror day-to-day work practices, as well as having a more secure assessment.
The NCTJ is proud to be at the forefront of using cutting-edge technology on its award-winning exams platform.
‘The Big News Story’ will exploit the opportunities offered by an online exam to make this a challenging test of a candidate’s abilities in a digital newsroom.
The media law, regulation and ethics exam will be similar to the current exam, although the time will be extended to allow testing of more areas of the syllabus.
The focus will still very much be on defamation, contempt of court, privacy, copyright, court reporting restrictions, along with regulation (as appropriate to the sector where the candidate works) and more general ethical principles.
The logbook has been redesigned to ensure the work submitted reflects a broad skill set, with mandatory conditions ensuring that certain areas are covered, as well as giving the candidate some ‘free choices’ to submit work of which they are particularly proud.
Each of the submissions will need to be substantial and usually consist of more than one story or piece of content.
The NCTJ has consulted widely as it always does, with all sectors of the industry in the development of the assessments.
Our aim is to offer this qualification to a wider range of journalists and media sectors and to ensure the exam reflects the work goes on in our industry to serve our communities.
The new exam is expected to be available from July next year.
New NQJ in a nutshell:
New exam will be two exams and a logbook
Exams are:
The Big News Story (working title)
Media law, regulation and ethics
The Big News Story
• It is a test of many skills, under pressure of time
• At the moment it is being developed to be suitable for online and broadcast
• Developments to come will make the exam available for other sectors.
• The exam will be sat online, either in-house or at NCTJ centres
• The basis is an evolving story
• It is test of many of the skills needed in a modern newsroom
• Information will come from a variety of sources during the course of the exam
• Information will be written and verbal
• Candidates will carry out many tasks during the exam including writing content, handling social media and managing resources and making decisions.
Media law, regulation and ethics
This will be similar to the current NQJ exam but will now have four questions. Will test key areas — defamation, contempt, privacy, court reporting restrictions, copyright plus regulation and more general ethics
Logbook
The logbook will contain substantial pieces of work
Candidates will need to demonstrate their skills in finding stories, interviewing, telling stories, as well as the use of social media and interaction with the community within which they work.
Other points
First exams offered from July 2019
Changes following consultation
Aim is to open up the NQJ to a wider range of journalists and media sectors

