💡 Why it matters: People everywhere need accurate news they can trust, especially as false information spreads fast online. Journalists who can check facts and tell stories in text, audio and video are valued.
💰 What it can pay
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Starting out
- ₦800k – ₦2M
- Mid-career
- ₦2.5M – ₦6M
- Senior
- ₦6M – ₦15M
≈ ₦208k – ₦500k a month mid-career. Indicative estimate by Incusim.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Closest UK profile: Newspaper or magazine journalist. Typical starter to experienced salary. National Careers Service, 2026
🇺🇸 United States
Closest US category: News analysts, reporters, and journalists. Median pay; low and high are the 10th and 90th percentiles. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025
🇨🇦 Canada
Hourly wage low/high x 2,080 hours (no national median shown). Job Bank (Government of Canada), 2023-2024
Yearly pay before tax. UK, US and Canada figures come from the official sources named on each card. Nigeria has no official salary survey, so those are our indicative estimates. Real pay depends on the employer, the place, your skills and experience.
🛠️ What you actually do
- Research topics and find people to interview
- Ask questions and listen carefully
- Check facts with more than one source
- Write, record or film stories for news outlets and online platforms
- Follow ethics and legal rules, such as avoiding unfair claims about people
⚡ Skills you'll need
- Writing
- Curiosity
- Fact-checking
- Communication
- Digital and video skills
Get ready at school
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Internships at newsrooms, radio or TV stations
- Write for a school paper, blog or podcast to build a portfolio
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Junior reporter apprenticeship
- Trainee schemes at newspapers, broadcasters and online outlets
🇺🇸 United States
- Student newspaper, radio or video experience
- Internships at news outlets
🇨🇦 Canada
- Student media and internships
- Junior reporter or freelance roles at news outlets
🗺️ Your path to this career
- 1Write for your school paper, blog or podcast to build a portfolio
- 2Study journalism, media or English
- 3Do internships or a trainee role at a newsroom or online outlet
- 4Build a name with reliable stories on a beat such as health, business or sport
- 5Move up to senior reporter, editor or specialist correspondent
⏰ A day in the life
You begin the morning in a news meeting pitching a story about a local school lunch programme. You phone a parent and a teacher, check the numbers with an official report, then write the piece and record a short video summary before the deadline.