National Council for the Training of Journalists Annual Report 2017-18 Contents NCTJ mission Vital statistics 3 To be recognised as the industry charity for attracting, qualifying and developing outstanding Chairman’s report 4 journalists who work to the highest professional standards. We provide a world-class education Chief executive’s review 5 and training system that develops current and future journalists from all walks of life for the Accreditation – a new era 6 demands of a fast-changing media industry. Qualifications 11 NCTJ objectives Gold-standard students 15 • Increase resources to build the capacity National Qualification in Journalism 17 and capability of the NCTJ to strengthen its role and influence across all media Celebrating diversity 19 sectors and related sectors where journalism skills are required. Journalism Skills Conference and Awards for Excellence 22 • Ensure there are effective products and Student Council and Diploma in Journalism awards 25 services for journalists and journalism trainers at all stages of their careers and Careers, distance learning and developments 27 foster a culture of continuing professional development. Short courses 32 • Maintain a progressive, flexible and Business and finance review 34 inclusive framework of respected industry ‘gold standard’ journalism qualifications Who we are 36 and apprenticeships that embrace digital and other changes in practice. • Accredit journalism courses of excellence at colleges, universities and independent providers and reward and support them NCTJ values to achieve the media industry’s challenging performance standards. To grow and develop the NCTJ our values are: • Provide an effective careers information service that promotes journalism careers, accredited courses and the industry’s training scheme for professional journalists. Fair, accessible • Take more action on equality, diversity and and transparent inclusion to build a journalism workforce Equality, that widens participation so that it better diversity reflects its audiences. Open, receptive and inclusion and responsive • Mobilise employers to ensure the media to change industry’s professional training scheme produces journalists with high ethical standards to win public confidence and Strong sustainable trust in quality journalism. Upholding growth and best quality, high use of resources • Communicate and collaborate effectively standards and with all target audiences to increase best practice awareness of the NCTJ’s brand values, its role, value for money, agenda-setting Eective leadership, activities and status as a charity. High prole, management and • Provide the industry with substantive respected governance research and up-to-date skills information and inuential to help us develop our understanding and response to the rapidly changing market place for journalism. Vital statistics 2017-18 A total of 13,515 NCTJ examinations/assessments were taken throughout 2017-18 These comprised: 8,805 984 568 3,726 preliminary exams portfolio assessments national exam sittings shorthand exam sittings distance learners enrolled on the 1,756 Certificate in Foundation Journalism students enrolled to sit 96 Diploma in Journalism exams on one of: 135 distance learners enrolled on 70 37 the Diploma in Journalism accredited approved courses at centres 253 450 367 candidates achieved students were enrolled candidates sat NCTJ gold standard Diploma on non-accredited exams in national in Journalism courses sitting exam sittings NCTJ exams THE TOTAL NUMBER OF THERE WERE NQJ EXAMS SAT WAS 141 trainees sat the NQJ and 105 REGISTRATIONS 488 107 FOR THE NQJ trainees passed the qualification SCHEDULED AND IN-HOUSE SHORT 31TRAINING COURSES WERE RUN £241,000 in JDF donations received from bursaries awarded by the 49 Journalism Diversity Fund 10 sponsors and 2 donors 3 Chairman’s view What are we going to do about the big titles have sought partnerships with them. They look for tech companies? If we are so angry about ways to extend reach, find new audiences and benefit from faster download speeds for newspapers served up their holier-than-thou approach to making on mobile phone apps. money, reluctance to pay tax, monopolistic instincts and ability to vacuum up the At the NCTJ we yield to no one in our love for the feel of an inky page, but we move with the times or become revenues that once went to altruistic irrelevant. Working with cheerfully optimistic tutors and businesses such as newspapers, we had courses eager to embrace change, we’re putting much better stop using them. effort into developing qualifications that examine the new skills needed by journalists today. We’re pleased to We could find our way across town without Google, give have developed partnerships with Google and Facebook, up Facebook updates, buy from bookshops, stick to ITV sharing the benefits of remarkable technologies with and the BBC and make our calls from home. What was direct application to newsgathering. wrong with a phone in the hall anyway? The latest development in these relationships is our Of course we shall do nothing of the sort. Few of us two-year pilot scheme designed to see the recruitment want to turn back the clock, whatever our misgivings of some 80 community reporters to work with regional about the models and morals of these mighty new newspaper groups, paid through funds from Facebook. businesses. Perhaps behaviour will improve without our We’re overseeing the £4.5m project, making sure the personal intervention: governments, no longer dazzled money goes on new hires rather than to subsidise by the ingenuity of the digital world, are finding ways to existing staff and seeing that the new recruits get the regulate and tax; the public are beginning to understand training they need to become qualified journalists. Some the value of the personal data they used unthinkingly to think the scheme offers Facebook an inexpensive way give away; old-fashioned journalistic inquiry has shamed of improving its reputation. We think it brings a local some modern Goliaths into behaving better. journalist to communities that would otherwise go Newspapers have had more reason than most to be unreported. upset, for the newcomers – principally Google and The training element is vital, for the whole basis of our Facebook – have pretty much destroyed their business work as an educational charity is the encouragement, model by running off with the advertising money. On the inculcation and examination of journalistic standards. one hand, traditional publishers have no more right to The digital world has brought us many great things, complain than the coach and four drivers who watched but it has also generated a tidal wave of news and the first motor cars arrive; new technologies will always information that comes without any warranty, a great challenge old businesses. On the other hand they have spew of stuff that may or may not be true. As people every right: these companies, claiming to be pipelines strive to sift the real from the fake, they look for sources rather than publishers, have avoided many of the legal we can trust, produced by trained reporters who responsibilities faced by publishers and broadcasters. understand the importance of sources and the role of As it has become clear that the new world is here to objectivity. If we can help with that, we shall be doing an stay, the old world has been ambivalent in its response. important public service. Journalists on the editorial floor have laboured hard to expose the wickedness of the new arrivals. Directors of Kim Fletcher commercial and technology departments at the same Chairman 4 Chief executive’s report Our ongoing commitment to developing barriers to progress. Hopefully common sense will prevail partnerships has resulted in significant in the year ahead and the government’s drive to reform apprenticeships hasn’t stalled. change at the NCTJ this year, which is set to continue. The success of the Journalism Skills Conference, which was helped by the generous support of our friends at Sky, The charity’s income and activities are growing and we and the Awards for Excellence, presented at Hampton are determined to continue to seek and make significant Court Palace by Sophy Ridge, are a fantastic celebration of investments to ensure the future of quality journalism and talent, innovation, diversity and quality training. to help secure the sustainability of this wonderful trade. The charity’s investment in professional research continued Working closely with employers and our journalism with the publication of Journalists at Work, which provides college and university partners, we have implemented valuable information about training, recruitment and our radical new approach to accreditation. This is an even conditions. We also published a new edition of McNae’s more rigorous, transparent and cost-effective system with with Oxford University Press and we are indebted to our considerable practical support and closer collaboration hard-working authors for ensuring the book continues to between accredited course providers and the industry. give journalists unrivalled practical guidance. We’re opening up the National Qualification in Journalism During the year we were thrilled to welcome our first so that all journalists can qualify as seniors. We’ve patron, the multi award-winning Sky News journalist introduced a qualification in practical international Alex Crawford. In her role as patron, Alex will be giving journalism currently being piloted at two flagship talks, running