Annual Report 2014-15
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ANNUAL REPORT National Council for the 2014-15 Training of Journalists Contents Vital statistics 3 Chairman’s foreword 4 Chief executive’s review 5 Accreditation 2014-15 6 Qualifications 10 Gold standard students 12 Destinations of Diploma in Journalism students 2015 14 National Qualification in Journalism 15 Journalism Skills Conference 17 Student Council 19 Journalism Diversity Fund 21 Events, careers and publications 23 Business and finance review 25 Our people 27 Vital statistics 241 Certificate in Foundation Journalism units were submitted throughout 2014-15 18 candidates successfully completed the full foundation qualification 16,417 NCTJ examinations/assessments were taken throughout 2014-15 These comprised: 9,878 preliminary exams sat on course 1,176 portfolio assessments 658 were national exam sittings There were 4,543 shorthand exam sittings 1,548 students were enrolled to sit Diploma in Journalism exams on one of 80 accredited courses at 40 approved centres 388 candidates achieved the gold standard while on an accredited course 480 students were enrolled on non-accredited courses and sat NCTJ exams 382 candidates sat NCTJ exams in the national exam sittings 11 candidates successfully completed the Advanced Apprenticeship in Journalism The total number of NQJ exams sat was 820 237 trainees sat the National Qualification in Journalism – 230 reporters, 5 sports journalists and 2 photographers 168 passed the National Qualification in Journalism (NQJ) – 163 reporters, 4 sports journalists and 1 photographer Registrations in 2014-15 consisted of 225 reporters, 2 photographers and 68 apprentices 49 scheduled and in-house short training courses were run in 2014-15 3 Chairman’s report The Hollywood screenwriter William Goldman, who For years they addressed micro matters such as stories adapted that great story of journalism All the and by-lines rather than macro matters such as earning a President’s Men for cinema, suggested commercial living. Now the pressures are clear to all. Those with success was a matter of chance: “Nobody knows higher salaries become targets for redundancy. Those who anything...Not one person in the entire motion picture keep jobs are expected to do more work. People didn’t field knows for a certainty what's going to work. become reporters on local papers to get rich, but they Every time out it’s a guess and, if you’re lucky, an might earn as much as a teacher. In recent years, many educated one.” haven’t. In the internet age, we might say the same about media. So why do so many people still want to be journalists? We’ve got a pretty good idea what people might look And why do so many journalists heading towards at – Katy Perry has 78 million followers on Twitter – but retirement look with envy at the openings available to the much less idea how we might make them pay to do so. next generation? The answer to the first is that the And without readers paying, how can journalists make essential elements of journalism – the thrill of inquiry, the a living? interest in the unexpected, the sheer mischief – still apply. Twenty years after The Daily Telegraph became the first As for the second, we may have lost clear job progression British national title to go online, we are still trying to work and secure salaries, but there are new opportunities. that out. Traditional media companies now take on journalists who can bring them new skills. Established companies are A couple of years ago, for example, The Sun erected an becoming media companies, such as BT, TalkTalk and a online paywall, confident that thousands of readers would hatful of retailers. And some ambitious new websites are pay. This winter it took it down again, having discovered rapidly buying what we would regard as traditional that they wouldn’t. We now have three commercial journalistic skills. Have you seen what Vice and BuzzFeed models: the paywall, which works pretty well for papers are said to be worth? such as the Financial Times , which decided early on that its stories were too valuable to give away; the hybrid, So take heart. To return to Mr Goldman’s quote, we may chosen by the Telegraph , which allows readers to see a not know exactly where the money is coming from, but lot without paying but imposes a charge after a certain we are good at knowing where to find an audience. It may number of stories; and the free, where advertising take time, but the first will follow from the second. It is provides the funding. encouraging that audiences are becoming confused, sated and ultimately bored by the millions of clips Mail Online, which grew out of the Daily Mail , has generated by people like them and stories that amount to become the world’s most popular English language online no more than hearsay. Bit by bit, they are gravitating newspaper. This year it took more than £70 million in towards professionally produced entertainment and news. advertising and other commercial activities, but its That’s good for journalists and good for the NCTJ. revenues are not rising as fast as those of the print edition are falling. The Guardian has built a huge international Journalists with our qualifications have proof of skills: audience too, but only thanks to funding from the skills they can take to old, new and as yet unimagined Scott Trust. media, skills that employers will pay for. Few of the journalists I have worked with ever stopped to consider where the money came from – at least before Kim Fletcher the internet changed the financial model of publishing. Chairman 4 Chief executive’s review The digital revolution and consequent demand for Accreditation remains a central and critical area of our new knowledge and skills has dominated so much of work. We take very seriously our responsibility to students our work during the year. Helping equip journalists to direct them to the courses we know will give them the and trainers with new skills to meet the needs of a skills to hit the ground running and a meaningful changing media industry as well as embracing new qualification that is a true test of their abilities. Getting the markets for journalism skills is at the forefront of industry actively involved in this work really makes a our activities. difference and we are grateful to the 67 editors who visited our journalism schools for us during the year. Nowhere is this more evident than in the redesign of apprenticeships and the comprehensive review of the We are determined to involve our customers at the heart Diploma in Journalism. Far more emphasis is being of the NCTJ. The Student Council is a wonderful placed on using a range of digital skills to find and tell opportunity for students to present their views and News stories to the same high standards we’ve always UK were fantastic hosts this year. The four accreditation demanded. We recognise that more flexibility is required forums provide centres with a platform to discuss the to support journalists entering all sectors. specific independent, undergraduate, postgraduate and further education sector issues. Publication of independent research on the job destinations of NCTJ students found 96 per cent of those We try hard to reach out to those who share our values with the gold standard were getting jobs. We are proud, and our events remain at the heart of this. Who can forget but not complacent, that NCTJ-qualified graduates are Andrew Norfolk’s spellbinding and emotional account at highly employable not just in all sectors of journalism but the skills conference in Sheffield of uncovering the in the wider economy. Rotherham scandal? Who hasn’t been transformed into the digital age by attending Bill Shepherd’s expert training The digital revolution is also changing our operations. We course in mobile journalism skills? Who couldn’t fail to be are investing in a two-year project to transfer our paper- moved by the Read family’s fund raising efforts for the based examinations to an online format for delivery and Journalism Diversity Fund in memory of their inspirational assessment. Digital developments are changing the way young son Thomas, a journalist at Sky Sports News who we communicate with our stakeholders and deliver our achieved so much in the face of adversity? products and services. Diversity has come into even sharper focus this year Thank you for supporting the NCTJ. It’s your charity against the backdrop of celebrations of ten years of the and the future of professional journalism. Journalism Diversity Fund. We recruited one of the industry’s most respected diversity experts, Abu Bundu- Kamara, to drive forward our work in this area and to set Joanne Butcher challenging targets. Chief executive 5 Accreditation 2014-15 City of Wolverhampton College students with tutor Dani Wozencroft and Mark Wray, head of training at the BBC Academy and NCTJ journalism qualifications board member A commitment to the highest standards of journalism right, a curiosity about the world and the knack of being able to training has been a central tenet of the NCTJ over the talk to people from all walks of life. Time and again, successful decades. That determination not to compromise on the courses demonstrate during the accreditation process that they essentials that new entrants to journalism need should not are producing journalists who possess all these attributes and be confused with a refusal to adapt to the rapidly-changing more. times in which we operate. The NCTJ’s accreditation The past year has seen many new faces making their first process has not stood still as the waves of change have appearance on an accreditation panel.