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February 2013 News

Weekly news chief steps up to daily editor role

Successor to long-serving editor announced

South London weekly celebrates 2,500th edition

Title has been published since 1965

Fund to help budding journalists hands out £123,000

A fund set up to help aspiring journalists from diverse backgrounds get into the industry has seen £123,000 invested this year. The Journalism Diversity Fund has spent just over £123,000 on bursaries in the 2012/13 academic year to allow students to

Reporter wins award in memory of young trainee

Award created after death of 23-year-old journalist

Archant relaunches magazines under single brand

Publisher creates generic look for lifestyle titles

Regional political editor lands new role with Standard

A regional political editor who replaced his long-serving predecessor last year is moving on after 12 months in the role. Joe Watts, left, moved to the Eastern Daily Press last year to succeed Chris Fisher, who spent 32 years as

Turkish police investigate death of journalism lecturer

Tributes paid after course leader dies while abroad

Newspaper MD leaves publisher after 22 years

Manager became well known figure in business circles

Dyson at Large: Mirror iPad’s collateral damage

Not so fantastic, Mr Fox, says HTFP blogger

Journalist’s videos portray 36 years of newsroom life

Photographs and films of staff uploaded to YouTube

Salmond complains over Scottish daily’s windfarm story

Plus: Round-up of PCC cases involving regional newspapers

Award-winning reporters to battle it out on the pitch

Penalty shoot out will decide who gets coveted title

Reporter who quit on YouTube to star in documentary

A regional press reporter who became a YouTube sensation after drunkenly resigning from a regional daily will star in a documentary about his life. Adam Smith, who is also known as Steve Zacharanda, became an unlikely YouTube hit after he resigned from

Twitter row erupts over councillor who ‘dislikes being quoted’

Dispute broke out after email to political reporter

Huge response for newspaper’s state-of-region survey

Regional daily publishes results of research

Scottish daily bucks trend with 13pc readership rise

Survey shows most regional titles had a decline in readers

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.