Cheaper exam fees, easier shorthand outlines and more multimedia content were among the items on the wish-list at a gathering of students and journalism training providers.

The annual Student Council meeting brought National Council for the Training of Journalists staff face-to-face with student representatives from 40 centres running its accredited courses.

The meeting, the third of its kind, is an opportunity for students attending to raise issues affecting them and to give their views about the industry’s training and qualifications.

Senior NCTJ managers were quizzed about a number of issues, with students requesting cheaper exam fees, free feedback about exam failure, more practical questions for media law and public affairs and easier shorthand outlines.

The news writing exam was a particular concern to some students. One commented: “How can one person mark what is ‘good writing'; even university lecturers aren’t too sure how to pass this exam.”

Another subject of debate was the variable multimedia content of their courses. Some students felt courses should cover all the skills required across the media and others thought courses should focus on particular platforms.

However, students welcomed the new multimedia qualification in development. One student reported: “I’m glad that the topic of multimedia has been discussed as it is what is needed to update the NCTJ.”

At the meeting, students were also asked to say what worked well at the NCTJ, to suggest improvements they thought were needed and to put forward ideas for future developments. These will be taken direct to the NCTJ board meeting in June by the student representatives.

Joanne Butcher, chief executive of the NCTJ, said: “The Student Council has become one of the most important events in our calendar because it is what the future of good journalism is all about.

“The NCTJ was established in 1951 following concerns about journalism standards in a report by the Royal Commission on the Press and this issue remains central to our work today.”

Comments

Paul (16/02/2010 12:24:24)
Easier shorthand outlines? They’re hardly taxing already. Perhaps those students should turn back the clock and try Pitman instead!!

Journo1 (16/02/2010 12:58:49)
Cheaper NCE refreshers wouldn’t go amiss either!

Journo (16/02/2010 14:34:31)
How about providing a proper examiner’s report with the NCE results in order for candidates to see where they went wrong – rather than them having to chuck yet more money at the NCTJ for an examiner to cobble together a half-baked explanation. Alas, the problem with news writing is that it will always be subjective and I suspect the NCTJ has no procedures in place to ensure consistent marking. And one suspects the constant stream of money for re-takes is a major reason the NCTJ relishes the fact it can fail most candidates.