Teesside Live is a modern, trusted news website that is fiercely proud of Teesside and its passionate people and places. We exist to keep readers informed about everything happening in the wider Tees Valley area, both good and bad; what’s planned and going on in the area; and to champion and celebrate everything that makes Teesside special, covering stories from Hartlepool to Yarm, Stockton to Saltburn and everything in between. Our digital storytelling is responsive, trustworthy and authentically Teesside and proud – and we love the Boro! 

Now we’re launching a new brand, Darlington Live, focusing on finding and writing interesting, important and engaging stories about Darlington, from breaking news to stories about living life locally.

We have created a training scheme where we are offering a passionate and creative aspiring journalist a full-time position working on Darlington Live stories for Teesside Live. You will gain a wide variety of experience across a number of our different teams whilst also completing a fully-funded training course to become NCTJ qualified.

Is this opportunity right for you? We are looking for bright, curious people who can help ensure our newsroom represents the diversity of our readers. The only thing you need to be is passionate about news. Perhaps you haven’t considered a job in journalism before, or haven’t been able to access formal journalism training? Perhaps you’ve felt journalism is a world that’s closed to you. Well not at Teesside Live – we are open to everyone from every background, just so long as they’re interested in people and curious about the world around us.

This role will be primarily home-based but will have regular access to training, mentoring and support meetings via a hub in Newcastle. You’ll spend plenty of time out on patch reporting the stories that matter in Darlington. Due to the nature of the position the candidate will need to live in the North East.

Key Responsibilities

What will I be doing as a trainee journalist?

• You will be working as part of a team to cover live news
• You will build strong contacts for story-gathering in our existing and underserved communities
• You will learn feature writing and interviewing skills

The Ideal Candidate

Who are we looking for?

• You will be creative, curious, and have an interest in journalism
• You will understand social media and storytelling across social platforms
• We want you to be passionate about the stories you believe are important for our readers
• You will have at least 5 GCSE’s grade 4 or above including Maths and English
• Due to the training course you will be required to complete in this role, we are unable to accept any candidates with previous formal journalism qualifications

So, Who Are We?

Teesside Live is part of Reach plc. You might not have heard of us but we have probably met without you even realising it. We are home to the UK and Ireland’s most iconic digital platforms, magazines and newspapers. From the Mirror, Daily Express and OK!, to our regional titles such as the Teesside Gazette, ChronicleLive, Liverpool Echo and the Manchester Evening News (plus lots more), our brands and the stories we cover are as varied as our people.

We help all kinds of people share experiences through our stories because we believe this is what makes us human. Oh, and we should probably also mention that with a monthly readership of 47 million people, Reach is the largest commercial publisher in the UK. At Reach, not only will you feel better understood, you will also feel you understand other people better too.

Package Description

We are offering fully-funded NCTJ journalism training, a competitive starting salary and benefits including;

• 25 days holiday per annum
• Mentoring and support
• Free wellbeing apps and coaching support
• Simply Health Healthcare Cashplan
• Holiday purchase scheme
• Contributory pension scheme
• and lots of high street discounts!

Reach plc believes diversity brings benefits for our customers, our business and our people. This is why we are committed to being an inclusive employer and encourage applications from all suitable applicants irrespective of background, circumstances, age, disability, gender identity, ethnicity, religion or belief and sexual orientation. Please mention Journo Resources when applying, it really helps us out.