Eleven bursaries awarded in third JDF round of 2021

Eleven bursaries have been awarded in the third Journalism Diversity Fund round of 2021.
These aspiring journalists were awarded funding to begin NCTJ-accredited courses in the 2021-22 academic year, and bursaries can help fund their course fees and/or living expenses.

Twenty shortlisted candidates were interviewed remotely on Friday, 20 August. The interview panels included senior managers and editors from the NCTJ, Sky Sports News, Financial Times, Insider Inc, Google News Lab, Sky News, PA Media, The i, Reach plc and Reuters.

Bursaries were awarded to:

Manuela Brown, News Associates London
Thomas Grant, Glasgow Clyde College
David Hitchen, City of Liverpool College
George Hughes, City of Liverpool College
Yoseph Kiflie, St Mary’s University
Michelle Martin, News Associates London
Finn Oldfield, News Associates Manchester
Melissa Osbourne, Kingston University
Kiri Sathananthan, PA Training
Luke Saward, News Associates London
Chloe Sladden, Kingston University

At their interviews, the candidates were questioned on their passion for journalism, financial need and diversity.

The fund was set up in 2005 with a donation of £100,000 from NLA media access, with the aim of encouraging more diverse people to train as journalists and making newsrooms better reflect the communities they serve.

Thanks to the financial support of the industry, we have now awarded more than 400 bursaries since 2005.

Applications are now open for the fifth and final round of 2021, until Wednesday, 3 November.

For more information, please contact journalismdiversityfund@nctj.com.