Diversity fund supporters to meet aspiring journalists
Supporters of the Journalism Diversity Fund will celebrate with the successful students and trainees the fund has helped at a reception and lunch next week.
Supporters of the Journalism Diversity Fund will celebrate with the successful students and trainees the fund has helped at a reception and lunch next week.
The fund, which aims to increase diversity in newsrooms by awarding bursaries to aspiring journalists from diverse backgrounds applying to NCTJ accredited courses, will host its annual celebratory lunch at Guardian News and Media in Kings Place, London, on Thursday 1st October.
At the lunch, bursary recipients past and present will meet each other as well as network with industry professionals who support the fund.
Last year the fund received £100,000 from the Newspaper Licensing Agency along with £25,000 from the Scott Trust.
David Pugh, managing director of the Newspaper Licensing Agency, said: “It’s a great opportunity to meet the people that we are funding.
“This will be my third lunch and it’s genuinely encouraging to see people who are benefitting from the Journalism Diversity Fund and who are bringing diversity and fresh talent into newsrooms.”
Noted journalists who will be attending the event include Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of Guardian News and Media; Hugh Carnegy, executive editor of the Financial Times; and Kamal Ahmed, city editor of the Sunday Telegraph.
Thirteen bursary recipients are due to start their NCTJ journalism training this academic year, including a lift industry worker who wants to pursue his dream career, and a photographer from a socially diverse background who has no journalism qualifications but has had some work published in national newspapers.
The next deadline for bursary applications is Friday 30th October 2009 for courses starting early in 2010.
An application form and further information about the Journalism Diversity Fund can be found at www.journalismdiversityfund.com
• Editors and senior journalists are needed to sit on the panel which interviews applicants to the Journalism Diversity Fund. If you would like to help young people from socially and ethnically diverse backgrounds start a career in journalism please email christina.johnson@nctj.com
