Journalism Cover Letter: Examples & Step-by-Step Guide

As a journalist, you will be responsible for investigating, collecting, and presenting information as a news story which can be delivered through newspapers, magazines, radio, television, or the internet. Based on such news, citizens are able to make the best possible decisions about all aspects of their lives like business, healthcare, politics, etc.

As a thrilling yet competitive job prospect, journalism takes more than just a huge passion for writing to get into. One of the basic requirements is crafting a strong journalist cover letter that helps pitch yourself effectively to employers. From a journalism internship cover letter to a reporter cover letter, we will have them all covered with an ultimate guide, winning tips, and excellent samples. 

Having a well-written cover letter and resume might be one of the most challenging parts when applying for a job. Let’s start off with 2 cover letter samples for journalism jobs as shown below:

✉️ Journalism internship cover letter sample

✉️ Cover letter for news reporters

💡 Choose the standard cover letter format.

Keep in mind that you’re writing a business letter. Hence, make sure your journalism cover letter is well-formatted and includes the following elements: 

• Your full name and contact details (i.e., email address, phone number, physical address, LinkedIn, or personal website) 
• Date submitted (MM/DD/YY)
• The recipient’s name and job title  
• The company’s name and physical address
• A formal salutation (generally start with Dear)
• A short introduction (who you are and why you're applying for this role)
• Body paragraphs (what makes you the best fit in terms of education, experience, and skills; and how you can contribute to the employer)
• A closing paragraph (express your appreciation and include a CTA for an interview opportunity)
• A proper sign-off and signature

💡 Tailor your journalist cover letter to the role.

Since each job within the journalism sector asks for different requirements, make sure both your resume and cover letter are customized accordingly. 

Let's say, when writing a journalism cover letter with no experience, you should place an emphasis on your educational background and relevant skills. On the other hand, it's important to underline relevant experience and accomplishments if you’ve stayed in the field for a while. 

Likewise, the skills included in a reporter cover letter will be not the same as a journalist cover letter. The hiring manager can thus see your relevance to the role and be more likely to offer you the interview opportunity.

💡 Highlight relevant skills or experience.

Perhaps you have already mentioned essential journalist skills in your resume. However, a cover letter will allow you to be more specific about these, particularly how you've developed these skills and how they have been or will be applied at work. 

💡 Keep it concise.

As a general rule of thumb, a journalism cover letter should range between 170-300 words. Making it too short may lead the hiring manager to think that you didn't put much effort into the job application, or that you don't have lots of things to show. A letter exceeding 400 words, on the other hand, can be deemed too lengthy or likely to rehash your journalist resume.

💡 Proofread and ask for feedback.  

You've made great efforts to showcase your excellent writing skills throughout your  journalist cover letter and resume. If so, don't make them land in the trash due to grammatical errors or typos. 

You can use online grammar and spell checkers like LanguageTool, GrammarCheck, Grammarly, etc. to make sure they are error-free and good to go. Besides that, it's highly recommended you have your Professor or former colleague/employer proofread your cover letter and give you some useful feedback. 

Feel free to use the ready-to-use template below if you’re preparing your journalist cover letter.

--- Originally written by May Luong ---