Most German journalists gain their vocational training in a media organisation by a so-called “Volontariat” – a traineeship in journalism which lasts between 12 and 24 months depending on the media house and the respective previous education and experience of the trainee.
Trainees usually pass through different beats (such as politics, business, sports) to get to know their specific peculiarities and take part in journalism training courses from journalism schools and academies lasting several weeks.
According to the German Federation of Journalists, around 80 percent of young journalists do a traineeship in a media organisation. With 1,200 positions, daily newspapers provide most of them, followed by magazines (ca. 800), regional and local private radio stations (more than 500) and public broadcasting (around 300). Traineeship positions at news agencies remain in the double-digit range. There are no figures available on how many positions there are in online media.
Around 90 percent of the trainees have studied, more than 70 percent have an academic degree – not necessarily in journalism, but in all kinds of study courses. However, lately, many newsrooms have been looking for science graduates.
At most a third of all trainees are offered a working contract as a journalist from the media organisation at the end of their traineeship.
