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Students benefit from training grant boost

Six student journalists have received a welcome financial kick-start to their careers after qualifying for the Journalism Diversity Fund.

Administered by the National Council for the Training of Journalists, the fund offers to pay some or all of a student’s tuition fees for an NCTJ-accredited course.

The sextet were chosen from 57 applicants and selected based on diversity criteria and their potential for a career in journalism.

The interview panel, which met in June, included Financial Times executive editor Hugh Carnegy and Eastern Daily Press senior content editor Paul Durrant.

The Journalism Diversity Fund was set up to support the training of journalists from ethnically and socially diverse backgrounds, aimed at people lacking the financial means to attend NCTJ training courses.

The six journalism trainees due to start courses who received bursaries are:

  • India Adams: MA News Journalism at the University of Sunderland
  • Martin Graham: MA Multimedia Journalism at Glasgow Caledonian University
  • Amanda Hall: MA Print Journalism at University of Sheffield
  • Sophie Maden: PgDip in Print Journalism at University of Sheffield
  • Nneka Opara: Pre-entry newspaper journalism course at Lambeth College
  • Nicola Williams: Fast-track newspaper journalism course at Harlow College
  • A further 68 applications were received for the Journalism Diversity Fund deadline in June and a shortlist of applicants for interview will be announced later this month.

    Editors and senior journalists are needed to sit on the panel which interviews applicants for fund. Email [email protected] to get involved.

    The next deadline for bursary applications is 30 October – visit journalismdiversityfund.com for more information and to download an application form.

  • A new intern to oversee and promote the Journalism Diversity Fund has been appointed by the NCTJ. Christina Johnson, who is currently completing the MA in Newspaper Journalism course at Nottingham Trent University, will help oversee the administration, organisation and promotion of the fund.