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June 2007 News

Scottish press honoured

The winners of this year’s Royal Bank of Scotland Press Awards have been announced. The Sunday Herald has won the Newspaper of the Year title, along with the award for Best Foreign Coverage. Sunday Herald editor Andrew Jaspan said: “This

2001 Newspaper Awards

Here are the nominations for the 2001 Newspaper Awards in association with Production Journal and Fujifilm Graphic Systems. National Newspaper of the YearThe Stora Enso Premier Award for national daily newspapers. Financial TimesThe Daily TelegraphThe GuardianThe IndependentThe MirrorThe Times Regional

Theatre struggle nets critica prize

A tale of the battles faced by the theatre to escape official censorship has won a London theatre critic a renowned award. Nicholas de Jongh, who writes for the Evening Standard, scooped the Theatre Book Prize 2000, awarded by the

Honoured by borough

A reporter on a London weekly is being honoured with an award from her local authority. Pat Greenwood, who has been a journalist at the South East London Mercury for more than 25 years, is being rewarded for her contribution

Mercury scoops 10 award honours in three weeks

The Sunday Mercury has scooped 10 award honours in three weeks. The paper’s most recent award achievement came at the 2000 BT Media Awards Midlands regional final in Birmingham, where the paper was named BT Midlands Daily Newspaper of the

New student prize launched

A new student prize in journalism has been launched at Liverpool John Moore’s University. The Fairclough Prize has been established by JMU benefactor Lynette Beardwood, in memory of her family. Lynette has already contributed significantly to the student hardship fund

Top award for the News

The Scarborough Evening News has scooped the top award in the Oscars of the charity world with its New May Lodge Appeal. The appeal, which has raised £250,000 for a new resource and respite centre for children with learning disabilities,

Newspapers on the up

The South Wales Argus, Paisley Daily Express, York Evening Press and Irish News were the daily papers that scooped awards for their circulation growth at a gala awards ceremony hosted by The Newspaper Society. The top-selling regional and local newspapers

Banks's photo awards winners

More than 100 photographers were whittled down to ten top prizewinners at the Banks’s Midlands Press Photographer of the Year ceremony. The event, in its sixth year, attracted entries from more than 30 newspapers. Every aspect of local press photography

And the winners are…

The winners of the Banks’s Midlands Press Photographer of the Year awards 2000-1 are: Press Photographer:Alan Evans, Shropshire Star;Runner-up: Dale Martin, Birmingham Evening Mail;Highly commended: Sam Bagnall, Sunday Mercury, Jason Senior, Leicester Mercury. Weekly Press Photographer:Sam Bagnall, Sunday Mercury;Runner-up: Darren

Focus on top sports photographers

Photographers from Eastern Counties Newspapers once again dominated the 2000 Sports Photographic Competition organised by Sport England East. Open to professional photographers contributing to newspapers in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, the competition attracted a wide response with

More success for Don

Matlock Mercury editor Don Hale has now scooped FIVE awards in the wake of his campaign to free convicted murderer Stephen Downing – and he’s nominated for even more. Apart from his regional BT Media Award for Midlands Weekly Journalist

Student Media Awardsare launched

Page 1 of 2 The Guardian has launched the Student Media Awards 2001 – their 23rd year. They are open to people who’ve spent time at university getting valuable experience in journalism – and could give them the step up

Peace award for Belfast journalist

Page 1 of 2 The political correspondent of the Belfast Telegraph has won one of Ireland’s most prestigious awards. Chris Thornton’s prize is for the promotion of peace and reconciliation in Ireland. He has worked with Independent writer David McKittrick

Regional press honoured for campaigning work

Campaigning newspapers have been rewarded for their work in the local community in the Newspaper Sales and Promotions Awards 2000. The awards, announced at the Newspaper Society’s Newspaper Sales and Promotions Conference and Exhibition, attracted hundreds of entries from newspapers

Tips on choosing a journalism course

Emma Clark, former marketing and communications manager for the National Council for the Training of Journalists, offers her advice on choosing between journalism courses.
Recently I've attended numerous careers fairs around the country, meeting students of all ages keen to break into journalism - whether that be in newspapers, television, radio or magazines. And of course, all students want to know which journalism course they should go on and whether they need NCTJ qualifications.

A quick look at the trainee job ads on HTFP demonstrates the importance of gaining the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism. Many adverts require candidates to have, or be awaiting results for, their NCTJ Diploma.

Trying to break into the industry without it makes a tough task almost impossible. With the rise in tuition fees, choosing the right journalism course is even more important than ever and students need to be sure they are learning the vocational skills required by employers, enabling them to hit the ground running when they enter the newsroom.

Employers know that an NCTJ-trained applicant will be able to find and construct stories, understand media law and ethics and be able to take down an accurate shorthand note when required. And contrary to popular belief it is not just the regional press looking for these skills, but nationals, online and broadcast too. Recent Sky Sports News schemes, for example, have been looking for practical skills including a minimum of 100wpm shorthand.

Student journalists can complete their NCTJ training in a number of ways - FE colleges and independent centres offer the Diploma in Journalism as fast-track and academic year courses, while universities offer it as part of undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications. All of these journalism courses lead to the same NCTJ qualifications and meet the same standard, allowing students to pick the one that's best for them.

It's no secret that the NCTJ has an exacting standard, and this applies not just to the qualifications but also to the course provider. All NCTJ-accredited courses have to work incredibly hard to meet the requirements in the same way that students have to work incredibly hard to achieve the gold standard. This ensures the NCTJ logo acts as a meaningful kitemark for quality journalism training.