Resume template · Updated October 2026
Journalism resume template
Short answer
Catalyst suits most working journalists: it skips the summary and opens on your current newsroom and beat, where stories, records requests and impact make the case, and it ends with a custom list for clips. The fictional sample covers county government and water for a regional daily in Sacramento after three years at a weekly, with public records work, a contracts database and selected stories.
Download the journalism sample
Rafael is a fictional government and data reporter. Replace every detail with your own before you send it.
The files are made in your browser by Resumity's own exporters, from this sample. The builder opens it as your own resume: click any line to replace it. Free plan, no watermark.
Why Catalyst suits a journalism resume
Catalyst prints no summary and goes from the header straight into work experience, which suits reporters and editors whose current beat and outlet are the strongest argument. It still prints a custom list at the end, so selected clips have a home, and its teal headings are set in IBM Plex Sans, the only one of the seven not in Inter.
Second choice: Leslie. Leslie keeps a summary paragraph and puts experience before skills, better if you are moving into journalism from another field and need two lines of explanation.
What goes in each section, in Catalyst's order
Catalyst prints its sections in a fixed order, the same in the PDF and the Word file. Here is that order for this sample, and what to put in each section.
- Work Experience. With no summary, the headline carries your beat, outlet type and any language you report in. Then show volume and consequence: stories a year, investigations led, records requests filed, what changed after publication (a policy, a resignation, an audit). Audience figures count too, such as newsletter subscribers, when you are allowed to share them.
- Skills. Reporting methods in Technical (public records, data analysis, interviewing, verification, audio and video), named software in Tools (spreadsheets, Datawrapper, a CMS, editing software), and Languages if you report in more than one. Smaller newsrooms look hard for data and multimedia skills alongside writing.
- Education. A journalism degree is common but not required; subject degrees in economics, law or science help on specialist beats. One line, plus a fellowship or student newspaper role if you are early in your career.
- Selected stories. Selected clips: three to five stories with headline, outlet and year, chosen for the job you want. Editors read these first, so keep the full links in your portfolio and the headlines here.
The sample resume as text
The same content as the files above, so you can copy a line or compare it with your own.
Rafael Ibarra
Government and Data Reporter, Regional Daily (English and Spanish)
Sacramento, CA | rafael.ibarra@example.com | (916) 555-0153 | linkedin.com/in/sample-rafael-ibarra | muckrack.com/sample-rafael-ibarra
Experience
Government Reporter, Sacramento Valley Courier, Sacramento, CA (09/2021 to Present)
- Cover county government and the regional water district, about 180 stories a year across print, web and the morning newsletter.
- Filed about 35 public records requests in three years, including federal FOIA requests; records on overdue well inspections led the county to hire two inspectors.
- Built a database of about 12,000 county contracts from public filings, now used by three other reporters on the metro desk.
- Report in Spanish for the paper's weekly bilingual edition, interviewing farmworkers and small growers about water allocations.
- Make explainer charts in Datawrapper for every budget and rate story.
Reporter, Delta Ledger, Stockton, CA (06/2018 to 08/2021)
- Covered city hall, schools and police for a weekly paper, filing about six stories a week.
- Started the paper's email newsletter, which reached about 4,000 subscribers in two years.
- Shot photos for my own stories and edited short videos for social media.
Selected stories
- "Overdue: the county's missing well inspections", three-part series, Sacramento Valley Courier, 2024
- "Who gets the water when the canal runs low", bilingual explainer, Sacramento Valley Courier, 2025
- "Inside the school bus contract nobody bid on", Delta Ledger, 2020
Education
BA, Journalism, Valley Oak State University (05/2018). Editor-in-chief, student newspaper
Skills
Public records requests, Data reporting, Interviewing, Fact-checking, AP style, Short video editing, Google Sheets, Datawrapper, WordPress, Adobe Premiere Rush, Spanish (professional working proficiency), English (native)
How to make the sample yours
Lead with your beat in the headline
Courts, health, climate, local government, business, sports: newsrooms hire for beats. Put yours and the outlet type (daily, public radio, digital nonprofit, wire) right under your name.
Show public records work
Since 1967 the Freedom of Information Act has given the public the right to request records from federal agencies, which must release them unless one of nine exemptions applies. Say how many requests you filed, federal and state, and what they produced.
Name the ethics you work by
The SPJ Code of Ethics rests on four principles: seek truth and report it, minimize harm, act independently, and be accountable and transparent. A bullet on corrections handled, a vulnerable source protected or a conflict disclosed shows judgement without bragging.
Bring expertise from another career
Former nurses, lawyers, teachers, engineers and soldiers cover their fields with knowledge few reporters have. If you are switching in, match the beat to your old career and show freelance clips or a newsletter to prove you can write to deadline.
Adjust for editing, audio or audience roles
Editors lead with stories edited, reporters coached and projects run; audio producers with episodes, downloads and sound skills; audience editors with newsletter growth and search and social traffic; fact-checkers with pieces checked and errors caught.
Keywords to keep where they are true
Terms this kind of resume is usually searched for. Use the posting's exact wording, and only for work you have done.
- reporting
- beat coverage
- public records requests
- FOIA
- data journalism
- investigative reporting
- interviewing
- fact-checking
- AP style
- breaking news
- newsletters
- audience growth
- multimedia
- CMS
- editing
Mistakes to avoid
- Every outlet you have freelanced for once. Pick the strongest and put them in the clips list.
- Clips that are years old when you have recent work; editors want to see how you report now.
- "Strong writer" with no beat, volume or impact to back it.
- Overstating your part in a team investigation. Name your role: records, data, interviews or writing.
How the sample PDF reads in text extractors
We exported this sample with Resumity's PDF exporter in Chrome on 2026-10-29 and read the file back with three open-source text extractors. This shows whether software that turns a PDF into text can recover it; it is not a test of any commercial applicant tracking system. How we test templates.
| Extractor | Name, email, phone | Headings | Bullets intact |
|---|---|---|---|
| pdf.js 4.10.38 | All found | 4 of 4 | 8 of 8 |
| pdftotext (Xpdf) 4.00 | All found | 4 of 4 | 8 of 8 |
| pypdf 6.13.0 | All found | 4 of 4 | 8 of 8 |
Frequently asked questions
How many clips should a journalism resume include?
Three to five on the page, chosen for the job, with a link to a fuller portfolio in the header. Mix a deadline story, an enterprise or investigative piece and something that shows a second skill such as data or video.
How do I get into journalism from another career?
Write about what you know: pitch freelance stories about your old field, start a newsletter, or apply for a fellowship aimed at career changers. Put your target beat in the headline so editors read your earlier jobs as subject expertise.
Should I list the number of stories I wrote?
Yes, as a rough annual figure, alongside the impact of the best ones. Volume shows you can carry a beat; impact shows your judgement.
Do journalists need data skills?
Increasingly, yes. Spreadsheets, basic analysis and charting tools help on almost any beat, and some newsrooms hire data reporters specifically. List the tools you have used on published work.
How long should a journalism resume be?
One page plus a clips list for most reporters and producers. Senior editors with long records can use two.
Will applicant tracking systems read this Catalyst PDF?
The sample PDF read back with its contact details, all 4 section headings and all 8 bullets intact in three open-source text extractors (pdf.js, pdftotext and pypdf). Commercial systems such as Workday, Greenhouse or Taleo were not tested, and each employer configures its own.
Guides and templates for this resume
Sources, checked 29 October 2026
We opened every page below on that date. Pay, rules and requirements change, so check the source before you rely on a detail.
- U.S. Department of Justice (FOIA.gov): What is FOIA? (since 1967 FOIA has given the public the right to request access to records from any federal agency; release required unless one of nine exemptions applies)
- Society of Professional Journalists: SPJ Code of Ethics (four principles: Seek Truth and Report It, Minimize Harm, Act Independently, Be Accountable and Transparent (found via search; page blocked automated fetch))
More in resume templates by industry.