What is public affairs?
The NCTJ public affairs module covers all things politics, government and public services in England and Wales.
You will learn how elections work, how councils are financed, how NHS services are provided and the role of the King and Prime Minister.
Public affairs is a compulsory module on all our NCTJ-accredited courses.
Why is it important to learn about public affairs?
Knowing how the country operates is essential for every form of journalism as politics plays a major role in every area of society. An understanding of how government operates on a local and national level will bail you out of many awkward situations as a working journalist.
Whether you are reporting on council meetings and education systems, or sports tournaments and theatre, you will need to know your public affairs. Stories about football regulation or funding of the arts rely on a knowledge of governmental processes which you will learn in this module.
How do we teach public affairs?
Our tutors have direct experience using their public affairs knowledge as journalists, having been local democracy reporters, news reporters or politics specialists.
Some trainees arrive with a real interest in politics, whereas others prefer to read the back pages. This does not matter.
We do not expect extensive prior knowledge of the module, all we ask is that trainees have an awareness of key topics in the news and ensure they read widely when consuming journalism.
Alongside a more traditional way of treating, we also put public affairs into action, covering events for our London publications such as the Queen’s funeral, King’s coronation and general election.
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See more about how you are assessed here.