|
By Richard Parsons, Director of Training
THE aim is simple, even if the process is difficult: train them to get their full qualification and help them land their first job.
WINNER: Former News Associates trainee David Jordan won the Sports Journalist of the Year prize at the NCTJ Journalism Awards. He joined the Grimsby Telegraph after graduating and has since joined our sister agency Sportsbeat
That’s the philosophy at News Associates, where we place great store in getting our trainee journalists through all their examinations, particularly the tricky News Writing and the demanding 100 words per minute Shorthand, while broadening their knowledge of the industry so they are customised for a first step on the career ladder.
Editors demand evidence of a thorough training, while expecting to see that bit of spark that marks someone out as a strong candidate.
If we can achieve that, then it would be natural to think: job done.
However, I have to admit to enjoying the thrill of seeing our former trainees picked out as among the best in the business, as witnessed in the awards handed out this week at the Society of Editors’ annual conference.
We had winners in the feature writing category and both the sports sections, while our candidate in the news section must have come mighty close to landing the big prize with her outstanding Portfolio of work, assembled during her course and on placement.
Emily Koch, of the Bristol Evening Post, who picked up the features prize, was an outstanding trainee who was already being paid (yes, paid!) on her weekly placement at the paper - such was the healthy respect the editor had for her ability.
Yet Emily nearly did not have the opportunity to launch her career at the Post.
On the eve of her final exams at News Associates, she was knocked down and badly injured by a car in East London. She was in hospital for some weeks – but it could have been far worse.
She had to wait three months to sit her final exams, to complete her full pre-entry certificate, and she had to wait even longer before she was strong enough to take up the job she had been offered at the Post.
WINNER: Former News Associates trainee Emily Koch, now Bristol Evening Post, won the Feature Writer of the Year prize at the NCTJ Journalism Awards. She is pictured with Helen Boaden, BBC Director of News
Our News section ‘finalist’, Louise Robertson, came into training from the unlikeliest of backgrounds - she was helping to run a tanning shop and had never done any journalism before.
Yet she was a natural, a real story-finder and an ideas person. In her first week of training, she went out into Wimbledon on an exercise and came back with a great little story a Dads-only Saturday crèche, to help them bond more with their children.
She is certainly set for a great career, either at her current job with the Surrey Comet or perhaps on a national.
Of our sports winners, David Jordan won the award for his work with the Grimsby Evening Telegraph. Being a Geordie, he knows his sport inside out and has consistently produced excellent work.
I know, from personal experience, how he can keep a cool head in a difficult situation, like a busy Saturday afternoon and evening with reports and results flying in from all directions. I’m pleased to say his ability has been recognised by our sister company, Sportsbeat, who have snapped him up from Grimsby.
WINNER: George Scott won the student Sports Journalist of the Year prize at the NCTJ Journalism Awards for an impressive portfolio that included some agenda-setting off-diary stories
George Scott is a quiet, thoughtful fellow - but with a head full of ideas. He has largely worked, as an intern, on the morethanthegames website since qualifying and has produced some excellent work, including an outstanding feature on how quickly (or should that be slowly?) you can drive from the Olympic Park to Wembley.
The idea was to disprove the organisers’ claim that it would not be an issue to hold the boxing at Wembley - just a ‘short’ distance away from the main action.
I should also draw attention to two other News Association nominees, both in the sport section, who were just edged out of the awards. Nick Hartwell, who studied in London, and Tom Chick, from Manchester are primarily rugby men, with a book full of contacts and a huge wedge of cuttings.
RELATED READING:
News Associates trainees make headlines with MP expenses exclusive
Former News Associates trainee in undercover Panorama exclusive
Post new comment