Theatre Journalist
Role
A journalist who specialises in the theatre and related creative industries. They may write across a range of formats, including news stories, features, interviews or reviews. Articles might be written for newspapers, magazines, websites and theatre programmes. Some journalists are employed by a single publication, others are freelance and write for a variety of publications.
Responsibilities
- Researching and writing copy for a variety of publications, often responding to a brief but also pitching ideas for articles
- Editing your work to check for factual and grammatical accuracy
Key Skills
Further Reading
- Profiles by Kenneth Tynan, 1990
- Theatre Criticism by Irving Wardle, 1992
- Light Fantastic by John Lahr, 1996
Training
Journalists don’t necessarily need to have trained and many learn on the job, but there are a wide variety of courses on offer for training in journalism. Journalists will often have studied a humanities degree, such as English, and possibly have written for their university’s own newspaper or magazine.
It used to be the case that journalists progressed from smaller, local newspapers to national publications, but these days they are more likely to start writing for an online publication or their own blog.
Courses
Other courses are available. Those above represent a sample from various drama schools and universities.