The Guernsey Press has joined with the newly-formed Press Association Training to launch its own in-house journalism training diploma.

The 12-month programme covers all aspects of journalism training including shorthand, with the law and government syllabus tailored to the Channel Islands.

The diploma is based on award-winning training schemes in Hastings and Newcastle, which have been acquired by PA.

Guernsey Press editor Richard Digard said: “We have sent our trainees to the Editorial Centre in Hastings for a number of years and been very impressed with the results.

“We realised that all of our journalists would benefit enormously from this training, so asked the centre to help us set up our own scheme.”

The Press is putting ten trainee journalists through the first course, with a further seven seniors also taking the course from September.

Trainees must attend a series of classroom modules with regular copy clinics, collect a portfolio of evidence for external assessment, work in the newsroom for at least 12 months and pass examinations in shorthand, government and law.

The training on the Guernsey scheme is delivered by Peter Sands, director of PA Training, consultant Robin Thompson and Guernsey Press assistant editor James Falla.

Peter, who has had a long relationship with the Guernsey helping it turn compact in 1999, said: “Finding the right staff in Guernsey has always been a challenge, so the paper has decided to grow its own. It is a huge step forward and typical of the creative spirit found over here.”

The Editorial Centre, now part of Press Association Training, runs a similar scheme for Thomas Crosbie Holdings, publishers of the Irish Examiner.