Hitchin Comet reporter Layth Yousif hailed the work of the NCTJ’s Journalism Diversity Fund during a discussion on diversity in newsrooms.
Layth, pictured left, told the conference he had received 100 rejection letters from would-be employers before securing a place on the scheme.
“It’s about making young people believe they can be journalists,” said Layth, who said that being a journalist made him “jump out of bed every morning.”
However Sunday Times journalist Eleanor Mills, the chair of Women in Journalism, said newsrooms were “still too full of posh men.”
Advertising guru Sir Martin Sorrell said online paywalls were “the way to go” during a conference debate on future revenue models.
The billionaire chief executive of WPP told the conference that giving away content for free was a “mistake.”
He said: “Paywalls, I personally believe, are the way to go. If you have content that has value, people will pay for it.”
Sir Martin also said there “will still be print newspapers in ten years’ time.”
Former Western Daily Presss editor Ian Beales was named as one of three recipients of the Society of Editors Fellowship for 2015.
The Fellowship, the highest honour the SoE can bestow, is awarded each year to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the industry and to press freedom.
As well as editing the WDP for many years, Ian was also code secretary of the Press Complaints Commission and draw up the Editor’s Code of Practice.
This year’s other recipients were former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger and campaign for freedom of information director Maurice Frankel.
New SoE president Nick Turner closed the conference with a rallying call for press freedom.
Nick, who is digital strategy manager for the Carlisle-based CN Group, takes over as president from Doug Wills, managing editor of the London Evening Standard.
Said Nick: “Whatever is happening to revenues, we must never forget that the key role of the society is battling for media freedom.”
Referring to the launch of the Society’s ‘Hands Off FoI’ campaiogn, he said the Twitter hashtag #HandsOffFoi had so far been viewed by 178,000 people.
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At least Layth received rejection letters. There are many Editors who will interview you, and you’ll never hear from them again. Not even a “Dear John ….” It’s rude and inconsiderate.
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How apt that we’re hearing that people will pay for quality content online, today of all days. Perhaps Sir Martin would like to hop in his Delorean and go back 15 years, before newspapers decided the best thing to do was to give it all away for free. His advice might be useful and relevant then.
You can’t suddenly decide to charge for something that has already been given for free for many years, especially when there are so many other individuals and organisations continuing to supply it for free. You can argue until you’re blue in the face about quality – people just won’t pay for it.
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Ha!
“However Sunday Times journalist Eleanor Mills, the chair of Women in Journalism, said newsrooms were “still too full of posh men.”
Eleanor Mills, daughter of Oxford educated barrister David Mills no less.
It’s not about men or women, newsrooms are more rammed with posh kids than they’ve been since the 60s, simply because working class people can’t afford to stay in it – they certainly can’t afford to intern in London for three months at a pop.
journalism used to be a trade, not a profession, and that was a good thing. Some of the best journalists I ever worked for joined straight from school at 16 and it bred a special kind of steel, and also meant the people being scrutinised by journalists were from different backgrounds, these days they all went to the same school – politicians, CEOs and top journalists, all with the same world view.
I still deal with people at nationals through some work I do and absolutely every single one of them is 24 and called Poppy.
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You need not be ethnic to get 100 rejection letters.
Indeed, as noted above, many papers don’t even bother to send rejection letters.
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No mention of the real and critical issues facing the industry then? Just more of a jolly to back slap each other on surviving another year then , nice one chaps
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