How to Develop a Journalism Portfolio

A journalism portfolio, which is a collection of a writer's best work, is essential to apply for writing jobs with printed publications and online websites. Aspiring journalists need both printed and digital portfolios. Printed portfolios should be brought to job interviews, while digital portfolios can be viewed and evaluated at any time before or after the interview. Printed and digital portfolios should include copies of both the writer's printed and online articles.

• 1

  Find writing opportunities. Write articles for a school newspaper or offer to cover local sports or government meetings for a community newspaper. Write articles for online informational websites, even if the pay is low or nonexistent. Pay is less important in starting out as a journalist than collecting bylines on articles that are factual, accurate and well written.

• 2

  Collect your best articles. After writing articles for a period of time, gather printed and online copies of those you consider the best ones to put in your printed and online portfolios. Use only articles with your byline.

• 3

  Copy the articles for the printed portfolio. Photocopies of articles printed in newspaper or magazines should include photos, graphics and headlines. Print out online articles for use in the printed portfolio. Printouts of online articles should include the website names or logos where the articles were published.

• 4

  Scan printed articles and save them in Adobe Acrobat .pdf format to preserve the original layout for the digital portfolio. Digital copies of online articles should have links to the live articles as proof that they have been published and to avoid copyright violations.

• 5

  Assemble the printed articles in a binder. Paste or glue the articles on card stock or heavy paper, and put them in a three-ring binder, which will allow you to update your portfolio with new articles.

• 6

  Set up a personal website for your digital portfolio and post the electronic versions of your articles. The digital portfolio can be a simple website with an index page that lists the articles and links to them. Internet access providers often provide customers with free personal websites.