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Community editor moves to senior training role

A community editor from an award-winning weekly newspaper is the new head of accreditation with the National Council for the Training of Journalists.

From March the Essex Chronicle’s Glen Oldershaw will spearhead the NCTJ’s drive to ensure accredited courses at centres across the UK meet the body’s standards.

Stephen Chambers vacated the role last year but stays on with the NCTJ as editorial consultant.

Glen said: “I’m very excited to be taking up my new role with the NCTJ, an organisation which opened up a world of opportunity for me when I completed one of its accredited courses.

“I’m determined to maintain the NCTJ’s position as the trusted benchmark of training courses for journalists.

“The media industry is facing exciting, changing times and journalists are now managing long-established brands away from traditional forms of news distribution to a multimedia platform.

“My job is to ensure journalists are equipped with the skills needed to meet this demanding environment.”

Glen graduated from the University of Aberdeen and started his journalism career in magazines before training as a newspaper reporter at Harlow College.

He joined Newsquest Essex where he worked for Braintree and Witham Times, Colchester’s Gazette and was chief reporter on the Halstead Gazette.

At the Essex Chronicle, which was last month crowned the East of England’s best paid-for weekly, he was responsible for the news content of the largest selling weekly newspaper in Essex.

NCTJ chief executive Joanne Butcher said: “Our accreditation chief is responsible for managing the vital partnership between the NCTJ and those course providers within universities, further education colleges and private centres delivering our syllabus.

“Glen clearly has the skills and determination to develop further the NCTJ’s reputation for excellence and I look forward to welcoming him to our hard-working and talented team.”