News & blog

“The future of journalism is in your hands.” With such a bold opening statement by NCTJ Chairman, Kim Fletcher, on Friday morning, it became clear why the NCTJ wanted us, the student council, to ensure they were providing us with the best range of opportunities, skills and qualifications possible.

Navigating the spaghetti junction of Victoria to reach the NCTJ Student Council meeting was a feat in itself. After weaving in and out of smoggy roadworks and narrowly missing a street cleaner’s wheelie bin, I managed to find the Microsoft HQ, where MSN was hosting the event.

Most organisations require you to ‘tick boxes’ before you can even contact them. Whether it be your name, age, gender, sexuality, religion or even medical history, it is essential that our bureaucratic society know about you. I, like many other Journalism Diversity recipients, have never fitted in a box.

Just a short 20 weeks ago, I began the course I had been destined to do since I was about eight-years-old.

Parky talks to Journalism Diversity intern, Lisa Nelson, about shorthand, diversity and why interviewing is like doing your driving test…

This year’s Society of Editors conference in Belfast took place during one of the most eventful weekends for the media in recent memory.

I remember sitting here 12 months ago, looking through NCTJ courses and telling myself that I was absolutely bonkers for pursuing a pipe-dream.

Someone asked me recently where I get my drive from, and I suddenly remembered the Latin proverb that was engraved on my St.Vincent Girls High School badge.

I work for a local weekly newspaper and in the last three months since I’ve started my job, I’ve had a free kite surfing lesson, donned wellies to visit a dairy farm, interviewed a member of JLS over the phone, covered a high profile rape case, and spent a day on the beach reporting on a sandcastle competition.