Journalist, BBC Swahili

Role Overview

This role sits at the heart of BBC Swahili’s move to a story-led newsroom, where journalists create content for radio, TV, the website, and social platforms from a single story. You will be expected to switch between writing, filming, presenting, and editing throughout a single shift, making deliberate choices about how each story is told for different audiences. Your work will support the service’s mission to deliver trusted, independent journalism to Swahili speakers across East Africa, often in environments where reliable news is hard to access.

Key Responsibilities

• Write and publish clear, accurate, and well-structured Swahili articles for the BBC Swahili website daily, ensuring proper sourcing, search optimisation, and deadline compliance.
• Produce and present short-form video content—including news updates, explainers, interviews, and reaction pieces—designed specifically for YouTube, TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Facebook.
• Self-shoot and edit video using mobile or professional camera equipment, applying strong judgement on framing, audio, lighting, and basic graphics to meet broadcast-standard quality.
• Contribute to live radio and YouTube streaming output, presenting two-ways and interviews with equal confidence for on-air and on-screen audiences.
• Research, script, film, and edit television packages independently or alongside Video Journalists, ensuring stories are well-sourced and structured for scheduled broadcast slots.
• Build and maintain a network of contacts across East Africa to generate original stories, tip-offs, and on-the-ground reporting that go beyond wire and agency content.
• Support breaking news coverage across all platforms, including livestreaming, while maintaining accuracy, impartiality, and speed under pressure.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Proven experience producing content across multiple platforms—news websites, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram Reels, Facebook, TV, and radio—with a clear understanding of each platform’s editorial and technical demands.
• Strong digital writing skills in Swahili, including the ability to craft engaging, accurate, well-structured articles optimised for online reading and search engines.
• Hands-on experience creating and presenting short-form vertical video for social media, with a demonstrated sense of what captures attention and encourages sharing.
• Practical ability to self-shoot video with mobile or camera equipment in varied environments—studio, location, interviews, and breaking news scenes—with solid visual judgement.
• Confident on-camera presenting skills, delivering scripts, interviews, and live two-ways naturally for both broadcast and streaming audiences.
• Radio production experience, including writing for the ear, voicing packages, and conducting interviews for broadcast.
• Solid track record of sourcing, verifying, and reporting news accurately and impartially under deadline pressure, including applying verification techniques to social media and user-generated content.
• Full professional fluency in written and spoken Swahili and English, with the ability to write, edit, and present to a high standard in both languages.