Funding aid for journalism students
Micheal Dixon Rebecca Sayce
A former entertainment writer at the Express & Star and Shropshire Star is going to college after having won funding to help her studies - thanks to a scheme aimed at increasing diversity in the industry
The National Council for the Training of Journalists has revealed that Rebecca Sayce (pictured) was among 16 successful applicants for the second Journalism Diversity Fund (JDF) round of 2021. They 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.
The winning candidates were interviewed remotely by panels which included senior managers and editors from the NCTJ, PA Media, BMJ, Aziz Foundation, DMG Media, BBC Africa, Journalists’ Charity, Financial Times, Insider Inc, The Printing Charity, Reach plc and Yahoo UK.
At their interviews, the candidates were questioned on their passion for journalism, financial need and diversity.
The JDF 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. Since then, the fund has awarded more than 400 bursaries.
Rebecca, who now freelances, starts her course at the City of Wolverhampton College in September and is scheduled to complete it at the end of June 2022. Commenting on Twitter she said: “After really falling out of love with journalism after a pretty brutal time workwise, I’ve put my big girl pants on and decided to go back into education to finally get my NCTJ. Yep, in 10 (almost 11) years of writing, I’ve never studied it.”
NCTJ head of partnerships Will Gore posted on Twitter: “ Being able to support talented individuals via the JDF is unquestionably one of the best parts of my job. Good for them, good for the industry. Huge thanks to our partners across the sector who make the scheme possible by their backing.”
The journalism course run by City of Wolverhampton College made its own headlines after being named as the top further education provider of the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) diploma for the tenth year in a row.
The accolade was even more deserved as the course had to switch to online delivery when the college was forced to close during the first coronavirus lockdown in March 2020.
The cohort of 12 students on the 2019/20 course all successfully completed the level 3 diploma and have gained employment with a range of organisations including Stourbridge News and City of Wolverhampton Council.
This past academic year, because of the pandemic, students have worn face coverings throughout the year, maintained social distancing and used sanitiser regularly.
“Lessons were online during the January to March lockdown, otherwise we were lucky enough not to suffer any closures of our bubble,” said NCTJ course leader Dani Wozencroft. She added that students had gone on to jobs on the Hereford Times, Oxford Mail, The Sun and Coventry Telegraph.
Michael Dixon (pictured),head of creative studies at the college, said: “To be named top further education provider of the NCTJ course for the past decade is the most fantastic news! Like everyone, we faced challenges in switching the course to online delivery with very little notice however our tutors and students were committed to not letting this affect teaching and learning and this is evident in the final results.”
The one-year full-time diploma – which covers essential journalism, court reporting, media law, public affairs, ethics, video journalism and shorthand – combines studying at college with work placements at local newspapers to give aspiring journalists the qualification editors look for when appointing reporters.
Thecollege has been accredited by the NCTJ since 1997 and is the only accredited further education journalism training centre in the Midlands
