Trainee journalists from several regional newspapers have started a new training scheme at Lambeth College this week.
Eleven apprentices from Kent Messenger Group, the London Evening Standard and Archant London, will work together once a week over a two-year period to gain the National Council for the Training of Journalists diploma and the apprenticeship certificate.
The rest of their time will be spent learning their skills on-the-job with their respective employers.
“The journalism department at Lambeth College is delighted to be involved in piloting this exciting new apprenticeship scheme,” said Roz McKenzie, course leader for the programme at Lambeth College.
“We are hoping more employers will follow the lead and begin to recruit apprentices.
“Providing an alternative route into journalism should help bring media organisations closer to their readers and listeners through increased representation in the newsroom.”
The Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship in Journalism has been developed by the NCTJ and gives employers the opportunity to recruit new talent and develop their journalism skills in-line with the requirements of their newsroom.
For further information on the scheme contact Lyn Jones at [email protected]
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On the job training is the best, but this is not new! Westminster Press was doing it 50 years ago.
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Isn’t this the old block release course split differently? Only with more ‘levels’ and presumably more income for the NCTJ?
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Day release on Fridays over two years, covering the NCTJ exam syllabus, was ideal as we worked on the job Monday to Thursday.
None of this four years malarkey to create fancy dan Masters degrees which aren’t necessary in the local press.
Mind you, the Ayrshire paper I started on in the 70s had an editor, news editor and six reporters.
The same paper, almost twice the size now, now has an editor, news editor and only two reporters!
Therefore, the editor has to make a sacrifice to let the reporter go to college/uni on the Friday.
As for managements trying to make a case that editorial costs are too high…..they are only paying a third of the number of journalists that used to be employed.
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I’m not the only one getting a feeling of deja vu then? Whoever decided to make journalism an academic subject needs shooting; the only ones to gain from it are the universities, who rake in the income. At least fees to the NCTJ give these trainees qualifications that mean something.
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