Production Journalist in England

Workplace: ITV West Country, Bristol

We are looking for an experienced and multi-skilled Production Journalist to join our broadcast and digital news team at ITV News West Country. We are a multi-platform operation, so you will be enthusiastic about developing an online presence through our website, social media and the ITV West Country regional rail on ITVX.

The successful candidate will be self-motivated and enthusiastic - someone who has lots of story ideas relevant to this richly varied part of the UK. You should strive for bold and creative production and be excellent in working as a team - essential skills in broadcast and digital news.

You’ll have a contacts list bulging with links to different communities and a clear understanding of how to get stories to air and onto our digital platforms. You’ll thrive with a demanding and changing workload, meeting tight deadlines and staying calm and approachable under pressure.

The role is based in our Bristol newsroom and requires experience of working on television and digital news production. The role involves producing bulletins during Good Morning Britain, late and weekend bulletins, as well as curating our website and planning, so you’ll need a passion for creativity, strong editorial judgement and excellent organisational skills.

You will also be familiar with using all of our technologies for bulletin and digital production. You’ll be brimming with ideas for original stories, come up with innovative ways to tell stories to audiences across multiple platforms and have thorough knowledge of what makes viewers watch News content on ITVX.

You will have excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to demonstrate good working relationships with colleagues and external contacts. You will have excellent editorial judgement and social media skills, and you’ll know what gets the West Country talking. You will have qualified in media law and have a thorough understanding of the Ofcom Code.

To be considered for an interview, you will need to submit a covering letter and a CV.

Skills you’ll need (minimum criteria)

• Fully qualified NCTJ, BJTC or equivalent experience
• Working knowledge of Ofcom code, media law and compliance
• The ability to generate and develop original ideas and taking a creative approach to storytelling, treatments and production for both on-air and online
• Knowledge and understanding of digital platforms and how to tap into new online audiences
• Excellent organisational skills and demonstrate the ability to plan multiple stories while prioritising tasks
• Strong writing skills for TV and digital
• Excellent news judgment
• A strong knowledge of the West Country and an awareness of the types of stories that engage our audiences across all platforms

Other things we’re looking for (key criteria)

• Excellent communication skills
• The ability to work well in a team environment
• The ability to be self-motivated and quick-thinking, demonstrating resilience in what is often a busy newsroom environment
• The willingness and aptitude to learn other skills and to be happy to share skills with others
• The ability to work to deadlines and to be decisive under pressure
• The ability to bring in stories from underrepresented people from across our region as well as underrepresented parts of the West Country

Please note, the rostered hours for this role will include weekend working, late shifts as well as early morning shifts and Bank Holidays. The working pattern will incorporate late shifts (typically 00:00 finish) as well as early morning (typically 04:45 start). You are expected to provide your own means of transportation to and from your main workplace.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of what we do at ITV News West Country and we want to ensure we reflect our audience both on screen and in our workforce. ITV is for Everyone and we encourage applications from Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent people and People of Colour to apply for this role.

Newsrooms are busy and pressurised environments, involving live news production, which often requires colleagues to make quick decisions under pressure. We also need people who are able to use their initiative and, particularly for editorial roles, know what information might be required and how to research it. We need to test these abilities at the interview stage to understand how candidates will react when operating in a pressurised environment. This is a fundamental requirement of the role.

We will always consider any request for reasonable adjustments as part of the interview process, for example sharing key themes when that is requested in connection with a neurodivergent condition, whilst still ensuring that we are able to test a candidate's ability to operate in the specific environment of a newsroom.