Joanne Butcher, chief executive of the the NCTJ, had some encouraging words to say about the impact of the Journalism Diversity Fund at the 10 year anniversary reception held this week.
'(The JDF) has been a massive success. Nearly 200 young people have had their training paid for by the Journalism Diversity Fund, thanks to our sponsors -and it has helped young people start their careers in Journalism, which they wouldn't have been able to do without funding. It has made a difference to young people’s careers and it has made a difference to our newsrooms, which was obviously the intention in the first place, to change the face of our newsrooms. It is great to see so many recipients of the fund here tonight finding jobs in journalism - the fund is making a big difference. The NLA were instrumental in setting up the fund in the first place, and without the support of the national newspapers that support the NLA we wouldn’t have been able to set up the fund. It is thanks to their support that the fund has achieved what it has'.
We also spoke to Amber Haque, trainee journalist at the BBC, about the impact the JDF has had on her career:
Amber's speech, along with advice for aspiring young journalists, can be viewed here.