Welsh minister to open Journalism Skills Conference in Cardiff

Picture: Leighton Andrews, the Welsh assembly minister for children, education and lifelong learning.

Leighton Andrews, the minister for children, education and lifelong learning, will open the Journalism Skills Conference at the National Assembly for Wales on Thursday, 2 December.   

Mr Andrews co-founded the ‘Yes for Wales’ campaign in a referendum on devolution – a topic for discussion at this year’s conference – and is the former head of public affairs at the BBC.

The NCTJ’s Journalism Skills Conference is an annual two-day event that brings together representatives from journalism’s education and training, and media industry sectors.

It provides a platform for the discussion of the latest issues associated with developing professional journalists across all media sectors, and celebrates the achievements of those involved in journalism education and training.

At last year’s conference, held in Glasgow, the structure of the new NCTJ multimedia qualification was outlined by the qualifications board and debated by delegates. The new Diploma in Journalism has now been developed and will be piloted at 26 centres from September.

This year some of the top names in journalism will take part in a question time skills debate and a panel of ‘new world’ journalists will discuss the question, ‘What is a fully converged journalist?’. Other topics include reporting devolution, the election debates, and future changes to the industry’s gold standard qualifications and accreditation.

A reception and dinner at Cardiff Castle will include presentation of the chairman’s award and accolades for the top performing courses.

Details of the prices for delegates, and further information about the conference, can be found here.

To reserve your place(s) please complete the and email it to shevon.houston@nctj.com as soon as possible to secure the preferential early booking rate.