Would-be journalists from under-represented backgrounds have been given an exclusive insight into the world of business journalism.

Recipients of the Journalism Diversity Fund attended a “speed-mentoring” event with editors and journalists who cover business.

The event, hosted by business media firm Insider, gave the students and early-career journalists an opportunity to have a 10-minute quick-fire session with each journalist to learn from them and gain advice.

Business journalists in attendance included Robert North, executive producer at CNN Business, Grace Dean, senior reporter at Insider, Nicholas Petche, editor-in-chief of Yahoo UK, Bloomberg journalist Lisa Pham and Mehul Srivastava, from the Financial Times.

Attendees at the event

Former JDF recipient Yusuf Khan, who is now a reporter covering commodities for Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal in London, also joined the event to offer his experiences to current recipients.

JDF recipient Noni Needs, who is currently studying for her Diploma in Journalism at City of Liverpool College, said: “I was very nervous about coming along because I feel I might not be the right person to cover business but, of course, as a journalist you can cover all topics if you ask the right questions.

“Talking to everybody here, it’s dispelled a lot of my fears and given me confidence to write for the business sector. It was really worthwhile, I very much enjoyed it and I got lots of advice from very interesting people.”

Nikki Akinola, senior diversity and inclusion co-ordinator at the NCTJ, added: “It was great to see the dedication from our supporters at Insider to making a real impactful difference to the future career of the JDF recipients.

“Being able to have some real one-on-one time with a senior editor or senior journalist is second to none. You only ever get that time during an interview.

“This allowed for honest dialogue from all parties with the outcome being a very successful experience for all involved.”