# Media/broadcast jobs for English-speaking foreigners?



## DanNFLD (Oct 4, 2014)

Hello,
I was wondering what the likelihood of a native English speaker foreigner landing a job in the news/broadcast industry of Japan was? 

I've graduated a Film & Video Production program and have several years work experience with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (our national news/broadcast channel) as a video editor/videographer, for both local and national broadcast.

Are there English-language channels that hire foreigners with broadcast training and experience? Is there any real demand, or is that reserved for locals who speak English?

Thanks for any input!


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## larabell (Sep 10, 2007)

NHK produces English-language programs for foreign (ie: not Japan) consumption but my guess is that there's only a handful of positions and a long waiting list. If you speak near-fluent Japanese, you might be able to land a job as "talent" on one of the variety shows but I would suspect the video editing is probably done by locals and, in any event, you'd need to be able to speak Japanese anyway and compete with equally competent locals who don't need visa sponsorship in order to work in Japan. The experience is moot... what counts is whether you have some sort of skill that can't easily be found in the local labor pool.

If there are any forum members in the broadcast industry, perhaps they can provide a more accurate estimate.


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## DanNFLD (Oct 4, 2014)

Ah, makes sense. Thanks for the reply! I've had a colleague work with the NHK but he was a "talent" as you said, not production.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

It looks like the CBC has only one permanent overseas bureau in Asia, in Beijing. Knowledge of Mandarin would be a plus there, I'd assume.

Al Jazeera might be hiring, and they require English proficiency. Their Asian broadcast center is in Kuala Lumpur, but they have a permanent correspondent based in Tokyo.


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