From newsroom to copy desk: why journalists make the best copywriters
In my career, I've worn quite a number of content and writing hats—in-house copywriter, agency copywriter, content marketer, journalist.
After my degree in journalism, I hopped around between local magazines, glossy luxury consumer mags, trade press and ‘customer publishing’ for brands (back when in-flight magazines were still properly a thing), eager to soak up every bit of writing experience I could.
Later I’d go on to chase exclusives in the newsroom as a tech journo, and write hard-selling copy from online ads to promotional video scripts at a B2B marketing agency.
While many journalists consciously decide to make the transition to the marketing industry, it wasn’t exactly a massive plot twist for me. Because I was already straddling both worlds—writing to sell things and writing to inform and entertain.
What I realised early on is that good storytelling is universal.
Yes, there are distinct skills that can only come with copywriting experience, such as:
Understanding the psychology behind persuasion.
Seeing the bigger picture of a brand strategy or customer journey.
Working well with clients and learning from constructive feedback.
The art of polishing a message down into just a couple of pithy words, to activate an emotion and influence action (in the case of short-form copy like digital ads or taglines).
But my journalism experience has taught me how to:
Dive into diverse subject matter in short order.
Find the humanity behind the numbers and that one unique angle in the facts, without sacrificing accuracy.
Translate large amounts of complex information into a well-structured narrative where every word serves a purpose.
And do all of this quickly—because deadlines are non-negotiable when your magazine is going to press in time to hit the shelves.
Whether it’s a video script for a luxury travel startup, persuasive web copy for a nonprofit, or a detailed whitepaper for a SaaS company, I approach each project with the same mindset:
What’s the heart of the story? Why does it matter to the people we’re telling it to? And how can we tell it in the most satisfying way?
