More emphasis is to be placed on online editing after changes to examinations for production journalism students.

The National Council for the Training of Journalists has announced updates to two elective modules of the Diploma in Journalism, production journalism and videojournalism for online, after an industry-wide review.

As a result, production journalism will now be renamed ‘editing skills for journalists’, with more emphasis being placed on online editing in the exam.

A hard copy subbing exercise has been dropped and the assessment will be delivered completely on screen.

Chief examiner John Dilley, pictured, said: “The production journalism module has undergone a number of changes over the years to keep in line with the fast-moving digital deadline environment in newsrooms.

“The new title reflects the skills assessed and we hope to see the high standard of attainment achieved in the exam continue through 2020-21.”

Videojournalism for online will also be renamed to ‘videojournalism for digital platforms’, which the NCTJ says will better reflect the content and skills assessed in the module.

Updates to the exam include adding subtitles to the video clip for social media, and the coursework has been revised to include making a video for the web and a social media video that is mobile friendly.

Chief examiner Vanessa Edwards said: “Journalism is becoming increasingly social.

“The NCTJ’s videojournalism qualification is changing to reflect the growing need for journalists to produce engaging, shareable social media content for a variety of platforms.

“As examiners, we already review some wonderful video content created by our trainee journalists.

“Now we’re excited to see how our trainees take on this new challenge, to produce eye-catching, innovative content tailored for social media platforms.”

Temporary arrangements for the e-portfolio introduced in April due to the coronavirus pandemic will continue until at least January 2021, but only for candidates who may be affected by local lockdowns.

“The majority of candidates are expected to follow the general guidelines from September.