Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism a Report on Research Commissioned by the NCTJ

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism A report on research commissioned by the NCTJ

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

1 Introduction

1.1 Background

The NCTJ is reviewing the structure and content of its entry level Diploma in Journalism qualification to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of the media industry. It is important that the diploma has the flexibility to equip people who hold the qualification with the relevant skills base for each sector.

This review has taken the form of both quantitative and qualitative research across the media sectors. It is based on:

 an on-line survey of 84 businesses across a range of industry sectors; and

 follow-up, in-depth telephone interviews with a selection of 21 employers of journalists across the newspaper, magazine, online, TV, radio and PR and communications sectors. The individuals who took part in the interviews are listed at Annex 1.

1.2 The Diploma

The NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism is an industry recognised, entry-level qualification. Introduced in 2010, it can lead to eligibility for the National Qualification in Journalism (NQJ), the NCTJ’s professional, senior journalism qualification.

The NCTJ accredits training courses at centres across the country to deliver the training for the qualification. Training centres can be based in higher education, colleges of further education or private training providers, but they all have to deliver the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism’s programmes of study. To gain the Diploma in Journalism, candidates must complete:

 six mandatory units - news reporting, essential media law and regulation for journalists, essential public affairs for journalists, practical journalism ethics, e-portfolio and shorthand for journalists; and

 at least two optional units, taken from media law court reporting, video journalism for online, production journalism, sports journalism, business of magazines, broadcast journalism and business and financial journalism1.

The NCTJ diploma can be awarded two levels:

1 If they wish to follow a news reporters’ pathway they must ensure that one of the units is media law court reporting as this is a National Qualification in Journalism progression requirement.

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

 the gold standard, which entails getting Grades A – C in all modules and 100 words per minute in the shorthand examination;

 the diploma standard, which entails getting Grades A –E in all modules, and 60 words per minute in the shorthand examination.

Individuals who do not achieve these levels have yet to reach the required standard and their diploma attainment is not yet complete and re-examinations are necessary.

1.3 Labour market impacts and candidates’ view of the diploma

Research2 by the NCTJ has shown that the NCTJ diploma is associated with positive labour market outcomes. This survey of individuals who had studied for the diploma showed that:

 82 per cent of those who had completed the NCTJ diploma course were in work at the time of the follow-up survey. This is higher than the 70 per cent of leavers from UK Higher Education courses across all subjects. The higher the level of attainment of the NCTJ diploma, the more likely it is that the individual will be in employment – 96 per cent of those who attained the gold standard were in employment, compared to 90 per cent of those who attained the diploma standard and 72 per cent of those who did not complete their diploma.

 79 per cent of those that had a full-time or part-time job were in a journalism-related job. The likelihood of having gained a journalism-related job varies according to the level of qualification gained – those with gold standard were more likely to be in a journalism-related job (86 per cent) when compared to those who had the diploma level (76 per cent) and 75 per cent of those who did not complete their diploma.

 the majority are in stable employment, with 58 per cent in a permanent or open-ended contract, with a further 13 per cent in a fixed-term contract of 12 months or more. Again, we see that those who had attained gold standard in the diploma were more likely to have these more stable employment contracts – 68 per cent with the gold standard were in a permanent job compared to 60 per cent with the diploma and 49 per cent who did not get their diploma.

This research also found that the NCTJ qualification was regarded as being ‘required’ by their employers by 61 per cent of all respondents (with 29 per cent that it was a formal requirement and 32 per cent that whilst it was not a formal requirement it was an advantage). Amongst those individuals in journalism jobs, 77 per cent stated that having the NCTJ was required (37 per cent that it was a necessity, 40 per cent an advantage).

2 Destinations of NCTJ Diploma in Journalism students, 2015, NCTJ, 2015

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

In the main, the individuals who have studied for the NCTJ diploma believe that it prepares them well for what they choose to do next. 77 per cent state that it has prepared them well for employment, 80 per cent that it prepared them well for further study and 60 per cent that it had prepared them well for self-employment or starting their own business. These ratings are at a very similar level to those found by HESA to HE courses across all subjects.

In more detail, the core skill areas of reporting, law, shorthand and public affairs are all rated highly in having been helpful in preparing respondents for employment. Even amongst those who were not working in a journalistic capacity, high proportions found the journalistic core skills to be still valuable in preparing them for work.

Telephone interviews with the employers show that they are generally supportive and positive about the diploma:

‘Generally the Diploma in Journalism is fine. As a rule, we are happy to recruit people who have an NCTJ qualification. We can choose to be fairly picky – and one of our sieving mechanisms is whether they have an NCTJ qualification on their CV. It’s obviously not the be all and end all but it’s a starting point as a criteria – want to see a pass on an NCTJ-accredited course.’

‘The Diploma is doing the job. They generally come in with the right skills.’

Newspapers

However, the employers in the telephone interviews are also supportive of the Diploma Review, with a need to:

 update the content of the diploma so that it continues to be relevant for journalists working in the modern working environment that they are now working in. Indeed, to future proof the diploma:

‘The diploma is important and it’s therefore also important that it covers the right areas.’

Broadcaster

‘There should be a statement that they are designing the diploma so that it covers what the key attributes/skills of a journalist will be in 2020: future proof it so it is fit for purpose in five years’ time. If not, and you try and design it for today’s journalists you’ll always be running to stand still.

Broadcaster

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

 broaden the appeal of the NCTJ diploma, making its content more attractive to those areas of industry which are increasingly employing journalists, such as PR and Communications:

‘The diploma has to broaden its appeal – it feels that it’s aimed very much at traditional mainstream media, which is shrinking. It’s PR companies – such as the sports organisation I work for, which are growing.’

PR & communications

Respondents also expressed a need for clarification of the qualifications landscape, in particular the relationship between the diploma and the apprenticeship programme. There is some confusion as to whether the diploma and apprenticeship are competing qualifications, or whether they are in some way complementary: whilst it is clear that there is progression from the Diploma through to the NQJ, the links and/or overlaps between the diploma and the apprenticeship is not clear:

‘We have an apprenticeship programme and it would be better if all the various skill development schemes fed into each other.’

Television

1.4 Research methodology

Whilst we have information from individuals on the NCTJ diploma, this research was designed to obtain information from the employer-side. An on-line questionnaire was developed and an invitation to participate to 700 NCTJ employer contacts (not all of which necessarily employ people with the diploma). From these we have received 84 complete responses.

One of the main variants in skills needs is the sector that the business is located in. Respondents were asked to nominate their main sector: the main area is newspapers, with 45 per cent of respondents nominating this as their main sector. The second largest group of respondents 14 per cent gave TV, eight per cent as radio, eight per cent as on-line and six per cent were magazine companies.

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

Table 1: Main media sector n %

Newspapers 38 45 Magazines 5 6 TV 12 14 Radio 7 8 Online 7 8 PR and communications 15 18

Base 84 100

Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases is all respondents

Nine companies entered a response into the ‘other’ options. These do not alter the distribution figures above and in the main reflected the multi-sector nature of businesses employing journalists. In the main companies chose this option to indicate the cross-sector nature of their businesses, with responses including:

‘Online, mobile, print and social media’

‘We have strong digital presence too - we haven't been just a 'newspaper' for a couple of years now’

‘TV, online, mobile’

‘Both newspapers and online’

‘Newspapers are as much online as print’

‘The fact that you can't tick newspapers AND online speaks volumes I'm afraid.’

Other responses suggest that the responding companies also operate in areas such as ‘consultancy’, ‘content provision for brands/agencies’ and ‘Broadcast training’, all related areas to the main ‘media’ sectors which have been identified.

An issue to consider here, particularly when looking at the sectoral analysis is that whilst employers have opted for a single main sector, they will all mostly have activities in other areas as well – as indicated above. Responses from companies like these have to be, by their nature, generic responses and may not address the specific skills issues for all the job roles. One respondent sums this up by noting:

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

‘I have completed the survey but it does not take into account what we are recruiting for - we take on reporters, subs, designers, online news, online features, online video and the priorities differ for each. For, eg production journalism is very important for a sub but less so for reporter and analytics important for online but not others.

2 Perceived importance of the current skills

As described above, the diploma has a structure such that it has a set of mandatory core subjects and a list of specialist options which can be selected. There is support for this structure which seems to be popular:

‘The structure of ‘core’ and ‘supplementary’ fits well with our organisational needs.’

Broadcaster

With the realisation that the NCTJ diploma is only the starting point for a journalist to develop their skills, and much will be learnt after an individual starts work:

‘What we want the NCTJ to do, in the diploma and elsewhere, is to provide good, well- rounded journalists. Some providers may offer more ‘specifics’ e.g. broadcasting, but what we want is journalists and we can teach them the broadcasting bit. We cannot teach the basics of journalism, but can teach broadcasting – so having this stock of well-trained, all round journalists is what is most important.’

Television

2.1 Core skills

The respondents were asked to rank the existing core skills in order of their importance, from one being ‘most important’ and six being ‘least important.

Clearly the most important core skill is news reporting, with 51 respondents ranking this as the most important. At the other end of the scale is essential public affairs with 46 out of 82 respondents giving this a ranking of 5 or 6.

An easy way of comparing between these is to calculate average scores for each of the skills, with the lower the score the more important that the skill is regarded. The most important skill is news reporting (average score of 1.87), followed by media law and regulation (2.67) and practical journalism ethics (3.61). Shorthand scores 3.85, ranking it as more important than essential public affairs (4.43).

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

Table 2: Ranking of importance of the core skills Most Least Average Base score 1 2 3 4 5 6 n n n n n n News reporting 51 14 8 4 0 6 1.87 83 Essential media law and 13 31 20 8 5 4 2.67 81 regulation Practical journalism ethics 3 16 20 23 11 9 3.61 82 Essential public affairs 3 4 8 21 32 14 4.43 82 Shorthand 6 14 16 11 20 15 3.85 82

Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases vary because respondents were able to respond ‘not applicable’ to each core skill

The importance of these aspects were emphasised in the telephone interviews:

‘Law and regulation will remain as vital – the need for this will never be less, but more (impact of Leveson). And they will have to retain some ethical value-based input – to do without it would send entirely the wrong message. If they lose this (particularly the law) then they could get in lots of trouble.’

Broadcaster

‘There is more to this than just knowing the codes. It is important that students understand the procedures to be followed when a complaint comes in.’

Magazines

‘Looking at the core subjects, news reporting is very important – these are the core skills. They need to be able to find stories, talk to people. We are keen on finding people with general news experience. And media law and regulation is very important to us. We need people who understand the regulatory framework, understand issues around defamation, need to understand the role of OFCOM, and so on. Ethics is also important. TV is under increasing scrutiny (as much as newspapers are) and this will only increase post-Leveson. We run our own course in ethics as well and it’s very important that this is discussed and that journalists understand it. Even for us in sports journalism. Although there is a bit of an issue here – how do you measure it?’

Television

‘It is right that the job has evolved, and will probably continue to evolve, quite significantly. But there is a need to keep elements of all of the core elements. Public affairs is necessary: journalists need to understand council and government. Ethics: it’s useful to have thought about this and what they should do in certain circumstances.’

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

Online

‘Not enough done to open their eyes about how to write stories from court. They need to be taught more “tricks of the trade”.’

Newspapers

‘Key is how to get the stories and how to treat those stories once they find them.’ (regarding public affairs)

Newspapers

But even amongst core aspects that are desired by the majority, there are also dissenting voices:

‘News reporting is probably less important: they can pick this up on the job, but law and shorthand and ethics are far more difficult for us as an employer to teach.’

Online

There is a need to be accurate which, whilst emphasised and recognised in the print media, is sometimes not done so in digital and social media:

Digital copy must be right first time – it is published without a second check; although print pages are read before publication.’

Newspapers

‘There seems to be more acceptance in multimedia newsrooms of mistakes that would be unacceptable in print. However, readers do not accept it and erodes confidence in our brand.’

Newspapers

These rankings vary according to the main sector of the respondent. For each:

 newspapers: shorthand is more important than the average (3.08 compared to 3.85), with essential public affairs perceived to be less important (4.74 compared to 4.43), as is practical ethics (4.08 compared to 3.61). 27 out of 28 respondents ranked essential public affairs with a 5 or a 6;

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

 magazines: the numbers of respondents is very small (five), so care needs to be taken with this sector. However, for these respondents it can be seen that news reporting, shorthand and practical journalism ethics are regarded as more important, with essential media law and essential public affairs being less important;

 TV: shorthand is considerably less important (with 10 of the 12 respondents giving a rating of 5 or 6), but essential media law and practical ethics being regarded as being more important;

 Radio: shorthand is rated as considerably less important. Essential public affairs is rated as being more important than average;

 Online: news reporting and media law and regulation are rated more highly than the average, but each of the other core skills as less important. This is particularly the case for shorthand; and

 PR and Communications: journalism ethics and public affairs are rated more highly than the average, but media law and shorthand are rated lower.

Table 3: Ranking of importance of the core skills by sector (mean score) All Newspapers Mags TV Radio Online PR and comms

News reporting 1.87 1.82 1.60 2.17 1.86 1.71 1.93 Essential media law and regulation 2.67 2.66 3.40 2.33 2.57 1.86 3.25 Practical journalism ethics 3.61 4.08 3.00 3.17 3.57 3.86 2.77 Essential public affairs 4.43 4.74 5.60 4.00 3.86 4.57 3.69 Shorthand 3.85 3.08 3.40 4.83 4.43 4.43 4.77

Base 84 38 5 12 7 7 15

Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases vary because respondents were able to respond ‘not applicable’ to each core skill

This variation across the piece was emphasised in the telephone follow-up interviews:

‘The situation is very different for us with our PR focus. Some things remain important – ethics, law. Some things are less important. They are a niche employer – some of the core elements are ‘nice to haves’ rather than essentials.’

PR and communications

Public affairs? ‘It’s not important.’ Public affairs light? ‘It’s not important.’

Magazines

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

‘Law is vital but please can they learn more about IPSO and the code. They should be able to recite the code! Knowledge of the code needs to be much stronger. Court reporting is also a vital module. He had given a talk to a college course where the students’ knowledge of the code hazy at best.’

Newspapers

This is not to say that any of the employers believe that any of the core elements are not ‘important’, it is simply that in a busy working environment, some elements are inevitably more important than others:

‘Looking at the core subjects, you cannot say that any of them are not important – clearly they all are. But the curriculum cannot be expanded, and the pressure to produce fully digital journalists, to help employment opportunities in a digital media landscape is pressing. So everything else has to drop down the list.’

Broadcaster

‘It makes perfect sense that people working in our environment have a solid grounding across all journalistic areas. If they have done them, it’s not a bad thing and very occasionally might absolutely be beneficial and useful (e.g. going to court) but they are not the core skills that we are looking for.’

PR and communications

And the downside of losing some of the skills that have been taught in the past is not without its downsides:

‘The prospect of us employing a journalist with the NCTJ diploma who doesn’t have a fundamental grasp of how Government works is (actually) pretty scary.’

Broadcaster

The working environment has changed in that employers may be less willing to train their employees in skills that are not immediately relevant for them and their workplace, even if some of these skills are acknowledged to be important for the individual to have rounded skills across all aspects of journalism:

‘The world has changed in that whilst before employers would have been happy to take a journalist on and let them train on ‘general’ issues to make them a more rounded journalist, now we are more focused on our specific employer needs.’

PR and communications

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

With specific reference to shorthand, respondents were asked, if shorthand was important to them, what minimum speed was necessary.

80 per cent stated that shorthand was important to them, with two-fifths (20 per cent) stating that it was not. Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) wanted shorthand at 100 words per minute, 10 per cent would accept 80 words per minute as a minimum speed and six per cent feel that 60 words per minute is an acceptable minimum.

Table 4: whether shorthand is important and the minimum acceptable speed n %

100 words per minute 54 64 80 words per minute 8 10 60 words per minute 5 6

Not important 17 20

Total 84 100

Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases is all respondents

One respondent noted that, whilst the debate on shorthand was very much still ‘live’ and the issue of whether or not it was needed at all still to be debated, but if it is a requirement then it must be at 100 wpm:

‘If it was needed, then it should be at 100 wpm – otherwise it’s pointless.’

Broadcaster

‘Not only must they have it, they must have it at 100 wpm.’

Television

Again this varies considerably by sector, in that:

 only three per cent of respondents from the newspaper sector replied that shorthand was not important, with 70 per cent believing that the minimum standard required was 100 words per minute;

 all the respondents from the magazines sector believed that shorthand was important, with most (80 per cent) believing that the minimum speed was 100 words per minute;

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

 a third of respondents from the TV sector did not think that shorthand was important for their business. Of the 12 respondents, just a half believed that it is necessary at 100 words per minute;

 43 per cent of respondents from the radio sector do not feel that shorthand is important. Where respondents do regard it as important, all require a minimum speed of 100 words per minute;

 40 per cent of respondents from the PR and communications sector say that shorthand is not important, with 40 per cent saying it is needed at a minimum of 100 words per minute.

Table 5: minimum required speed of shorthand All Newspapers Magazines TV Radio Online PR and comms % % % % % % % 100 words per minute 64 79 80 50 57 57 40 80 words per minute 10 13 20 8 0 0 7 60 words per minute 6 5 0 8 0 0 13

Not important 20 3 0 33 43 43 40

Base 84 38 5 12 7 7 15

Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases is all respondents

The issue of shorthand is one that clearly divides employers, and not all on the sector basis seen above.

Whilst most employers now acknowledge the value, usefulness and ubiquity of recording devices (either on mobile phones or otherwise) these are not regarded as being infallible:

‘What if all the gadgets failed? With some of the people we interview it’s a one-off chance – you cannot tell Sir Alex Ferguson that you’d have to ring him back.’

PR and communications

And these employers believe that shorthand remains a key and core skill:

‘Journalists will work with local papers, to cover council meetings and court cases, and for these people shorthand will be essential. Abandoning shorthand may cause problems. On any given day, the vast majority won’t go to court, but there is always the possibility that any of them may have to.’

Broadcaster

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

‘Shorthand is still very important to us. When we are doing our recruitment this is another of the ‘differentiating’ features. They might not actually use shorthand very much, but they just might. And when they need it, it’s vital – note taking is very important and if things ever did go wrong then a shorthand notebook can be used in a defence (under OFCOM and IPSO rules). If you have not got it, you can be in trouble.’

Television

‘Shorthand is vital. I would not send anyone to court or a council meeting without 100 wpm shorthand. When selecting people, you have to whittle down applicants (because we get so many) and I use shorthand. Anyone who has less than 80 wpm is not going to get an interview.

Note taking remains vital – it’s not just about recording things and using your phone. If you ever get pulled up you can be supported by a/your notebook – does a recording have the same ‘legal’ status? You still need a note book and notes.’

Online

‘I think it is something we opt out of at our peril.’

Television

As much as being a needed skill, the possession of shorthand is also a proxy for other attributes – which are possibly otherwise difficult to assess:

‘As much as anything else, having shorthand shows a commitment and determination to be a successful journalist. I’ve been ‘burnt’ in the past – recruited someone who was ‘just about to get’ the 100 wpm and somehow it never materialised, and these people all lack something.’

Television

‘It’s an indicative thing – it’s the hardest thing a trainee journalist will have to complete – it’s not an easy option and it shows you are serious about being a journalist, seriously committed. It sends a signal.’

Television

But increasingly for some of the newer areas of journalism it is becoming an ‘option’ rather than a core skill as new recruits (i) increasingly do not have shorthand skills and (ii) do not need them.

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

‘But really it’s now a ‘nice to have’. Most of our recent recruits don’t have it and I cannot recall a time when anyone of them has come a cropper.’

PR and communications

And with the increasing level of technology, shorthand may become increasingly redundant:

‘In the future, the court system and council meetings are opening up to live reporting via cameras, which may allow proceedings to be recorded on smart phones, interviews may be recorded on a smartphone rather than in a notebook.’

Broadcaster

If it is a balance between having shorthand skills and other key skills, the shorthand may be the one that ‘has to give’:

‘If it’s a balance between sending someone with court reporting experience or someone with shorthand, then it’s the court reporting experience that would win, and if it means they do not have verbatim quotes, so be it. Recruiting someone or not, has never been about whether it’s shorthand or not.’

Broadcaster

But it is important to note that if the journalist does not have shorthand then they must be able to cope with the alternatives:

‘It’s the responsibility of each journalist to have their own technology back-up – they have to be au fait with the technology.’

PR and communications

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

And that decisions on choices regarding shorthand may have significant implications for the range of jobs that will be open to them:

‘People who do not do the shorthand element do need to be advised that many jobs will be closed off to them if they do not do shorthand.’

Television

‘I think its day has gone. The majority of journalists don’t use it. If you want to be a news reporter, shorthand is worth it.’

Online

2.2 Specialist options

Respondents were asked to rate the specialist options within the diploma with regard to relevance of their own business. They were asked to rate these across a scale from ‘very’ important, ‘quite’ important, ‘not very’ important to ‘not at all’ important. A mean score has been calculated from these, with the lower the score, the more important the specialist option.

The most important option is media law court reporting (mean score of 1.62), with 62 per cent rating this as ‘very’ important and 21 per cent as ‘quite’ important. Less than one in ten (seven per cent) thought that media law court reporting was ‘not at all’ important. Following this was video journalism (mean score of 1.75) and production journalism (2.21).

Table 6: Importance of the diploma specialist options to business Importance Mean Base score Very Quite Not very Not at all % % % % n n Media law court reporting 62 21 10 7 1.62 84 Video journalism for online 43 43 11 4 1.75 84 Photography for journalists 24 46 19 11 2.17 84 Production journalism 26 36 29 10 2.21 84 Broadcast journalism (TV and radio) 32 20 25 23 2.38 84 Business and finance journalism 14 35 44 7 2.44 84 Sports journalism 15 33 38 13 2.49 84 PR and communications for 2.77 84 journalists 17 20 32 31 Business of magazines 6 13 39 42 3.17 84

Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases is all respondents

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

Again we see sector specific variations in:

 Newspapers: media law court reporting is regarded as more important, as is sports journalism. PR and communications, business of magazines (perhaps not surprisingly) and broadcast journalism, less so;

 Magazines: the business of magazines is regarded as being more important, with media law court reporting, video journalism, broadcast journalism, business and finance journalism and sports journalism all being regarded as less important;

 TV: the employers (again not surprisingly) regard broadcast journalism as being more important, with Business of magazines less so;

 Radio: the respondents rate broadcast journalism, production journalism, and business and finance journalism more highly, with photography, PR and communications and business of magazines being rated as less important;

 Online: the respondents rate most aspects as less important than average, with the exception of production journalism and sports journalism; and

 PR and communications: employers in this sector rate the options of PR and communications, broadcast journalism, business and finance journalism and the business of magazines more highly than average: they rate media law court reporting sports journalism as less important.

Table 7: Importance of the diploma specialist options to business by main sector (mean score) All Newspapers Magazines TV Radio Online PR and comms n Media law court reporting 1.62 1.08 3.00 1.42 1.43 1.86 2.67 Video journalism for online 1.75 1.68 2.20 1.58 1.71 2.14 1.73 Photography for journalists 2.17 2.03 1.80 2.50 2.57 2.29 2.13 Production journalism 2.21 2.24 2.20 2.00 1.86 2.00 2.60 Broadcast journalism (TV and 2.38 3.24 3.00 1.08 1.14 2.71 1.47 radio) Business and finance 2.44 2.71 3.00 2.42 1.86 2.71 1.73 journalism Sports journalism 2.49 2.24 3.00 2.17 2.57 2.29 3.27 PR and communications for 2.77 3.16 2.80 2.92 3.29 2.71 1.47 journalists Business of magazines 3.17 3.45 2.00 3.58 3.71 3.14 2.27

Base 84 38 5 12 7 7 15

Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases is all respondents

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

Where a company has moved to online production, the need for production skills diminishes:

‘The need for production skills – how to write to length, headlines, lay out a printed page, etc, has gone. We don’t employ subs anymore. Programmes like Quark, etc, aren’t relevant to us anymore, and not to others.’

Online

‘There are no real production jobs any more. We are certainly not taking on people to do this.’

Newspapers

But the importance of other, visual content production is vital:

‘Videojournalism is important – we expect all new entrants to be able to do a short video (30 – 60 seconds), edit it properly and put it straight on the website. Need to be able to be engaging and attractive.’

Online

‘Video will become more important. We will need trainees to contribute from the outset.’

Newspapers

‘Video is important for magazines with online e-editions. The quality of content is important. A 30-second burst is fine.’

Magazines

‘Photography is important – they all need to be able to take their own photos. They also need to use Photoshop to make their images more interesting. They need to be creative with their photos – enhance the image to suit the text better.’

Online

2.3 Content creation

The respondents were asked how they rated each of a number of skills which contribute to content creation. ‘Creating editorial for the target audience’ was regarded as the most important, with 86 per cent saying it was very important and only two per cent that it was not very or not at all important, giving a mean score of 1.18. Following this in terms of importance is use of social media (rated very important by 77 per cent of respondents, mean score of 1.26). After this there is a

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism considerable gap to ‘use of data’ and ‘use of smartphones’ (with less than half thinking these very important).

Table 8: Rating of importance of content creation skills Importance Mean Base score Very Quite Not Not at all very % % % % n n

Creating editorial for the target 1.18 84 audience 86 12 1 1 Use of social media 77 20 1 1 1.26 84 Use of data 49 42 8 1 1.62 84 Use of smartphones 45 43 10 2 1.69 84 Video skills 36 49 13 2 1.82 84 Taking photographs 37 46 12 5 1.85 84 Understanding web analytics 29 60 11 1 1.85 84

Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases is all respondents

For some of these skills, there is little variation across the sectors. The importance of ‘creating editorial’ and ‘use of social media’ is high across all sectors. Some skills do have sectoral variations in their relative rated importance: ‘use of data’ is rated more highly in magazines, TV and radio, less so in online. ‘Use of smartphones’ is regarded as more important in TV and radio, less important in PR and communications. ‘Video’ skills is more important in TV and online, less so in magazines and PR and Communications. ‘Taking photographs’ is more important in newspapers, radio and online, less so in PR and communications. ‘Understanding web analytics’ is more important for online employers, less so for radio.

Table 9: Rating of importance of content creation skills by sector (mean score)

All Newspapers Mags TV Radio Online PR and comms n n n n n n n Creating editorial for the target 1.18 1.18 1.00 1.25 1.00 1.43 1.13 audience Use of social media 1.26 1.24 1.60 1.25 1.29 1.29 1.20 Use of data 1.62 1.68 1.40 1.33 1.43 2.00 1.67 Use of smartphones 1.69 1.61 1.80 1.33 1.43 1.57 2.33 Video skills 1.82 1.84 2.00 1.33 1.71 1.57 2.27 Taking photographs 1.85 1.74 1.80 2.17 1.71 1.57 2.07 Understanding web analytics 1.85 1.84 1.80 1.83 2.00 1.43 2.00

Base 84 38 5 12 7 7 15

Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases is all respondents

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

The complexity of content creation and the range of skills that are increasingly needed were highlighted in the interviews:

‘The key skill is identifying and knowing how to package material for an audience. Skills will involve analytics, digital and social all wrapped together.’

Online

2.4 Content delivery

The respondents were asked how they rated each of a number of skills which contribute to content delivery. ‘Use of social media’ was regarded as the most important, with 74 per cent saying it was very important and only two per cent that it was not very or not at all important, giving a mean score of 1.30. Following this in terms of importance was ‘editing skills’ (rated very important by 61 per cent of respondents, mean score of 1.43). After this there is a considerable gap to ‘managing UGC’ and ‘layout and design skills’ (with only a third and 11 per cent respectively thinking these very important).

Table 10: Rating of importance of content delivery skills Importance Mean Base score Very Quite Not very Not at all % % % % n n

Use of social media 74 24 1 1 1.30 84 Editing skills 61 37 1 1 1.43 84 Managing UGC 33 48 15 4 1.89 84 Layout and design skills 11 40 43 6 2.44 84

Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases is all respondents

Again, for some of these skills, there is little variation across the sectors. The importance of ‘use of social media’ is high across all sectors. Some skills do have sectoral variations in their relative rated importance: ‘editing skills’ is rated more highly in magazines and online, less so in newspapers. ‘Managing UGC’ is regarded as more important in radio and PR and communications, less important in TV. ‘Layout and design skills’ are more important in magazines, less so radio.

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

Table 11: Rating of importance of content delivery skills All Newspapers Magazines TV Radio Online PR and comms n n n n n n n

Use of social media 1.30 1.24 1.40 1.25 1.29 1.57 1.33 Editing skills 1.43 1.63 1.20 1.33 1.29 1.14 1.27 Managing UGC 1.89 1.82 1.80 1.58 2.00 1.86 2.33 Layout and design skills 2.44 2.58 2.00 2.33 2.71 2.43 2.20

Base 84 38 5 12 7 7 15

Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases is all respondents

2.5 Understanding the business

Two thirds (65 per cent) of respondents believed that it was very important for their trainee journalists to understand their business in terms of a knowledge of emerging trends, with a further 30 per cent stating it was quite important. Similarly 62 per cent believed it was very important for their trainee journalists to have an understanding of editorial strategies (with a further 33 per cent believing it to be quite important). Just over a half (52 per cent) believed that it was very important for trainee journalists to have an understanding of brand recognition and value.

Table 12: Rating of importance of understanding wider business issues Importance Mean Base score Very Quite Not very Not at all % % % % n n

Knowledge of emerging trends 65 30 4 1 1.40 84 Understanding editorial strategies 62 33 4 1 1.44 84 Brand recognition and value 52 30 17 1 1.67 84

Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases is all respondents

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

There is relatively little variation in these average scores across the sectors.

Table 13: Rating of importance of understanding wider business issues by sector (mean scores) All Newspapers Magazines TV Radio Online PR and comms n n n n n n n

Knowledge of emerging 1.40 1.53 1.60 1.17 1.14 1.43 1.33 trends Understanding editorial 1.44 1.53 1.20 1.42 1.29 1.43 1.40 strategies Brand recognition and value 1.67 1.58 1.80 1.58 1.86 1.43 1.93

Base 84 38 5 12 7 7 15

Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases is all respondents

3 Changing the skills curriculum

3.1 Including optional skills in the core skills

The respondents were asked whether any of the specialist skill options should be included in the core skills.

The most popular option would be for media law court reporting, with 70 per cent of respondents suggesting this should be included in the core skills. After this, 49 per cent suggested including video journalism for online in the core skills.

Table 14: Whether any of the specialist skill options should be included in the core skills Number/% saying ‘yes’ n % Media law court reporting 59 70 Video journalism for online 41 49 Broadcast journalism (TV and radio) 28 33 Photography for journalists 27 32 Production journalism 24 29 PR and communications for journalists 13 15 Business and finance journalism 9 11 Sports journalism 7 8 Business of magazines 3 4

Other (please specify) 14 17

None of the above 5 6

Base 84 -

Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases is all respondents

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

14 respondents (17 per cent of the total base) provided an ‘other’ response. The main areas include the use of social media:

Use of social media ‘Using social media to source stories and increase reader engagement and awareness of features and campaigns.’ ‘Social Media’ ‘Social media’ ‘Social media writing/production. Media owners are crying out for people who can do this properly, enthusiastically and to a high standard.’ ‘Reporting for the web (including smartphone video and pictures) and use of social media (i.e. not just options in a portfolio). ‘ ‘Social media and how to maximise its use for finding stories and marketing your product.’ ‘Mobile journalism or 'MoJo' Business development and acumen ‘It would help my local online news organisation if journalists were open to helping bring in the money i.e. didn't think it was beneath them to sell advertising.’ Live news reporting Live news reporting (live blogging) Live reporting Audience analytics Understanding audience analytics Audience analytics Data journalism Data gathering Data journalism - or an understanding of figures and the perils of stats. So many journalists are sucked in by flaky press releases and "consumer research" that they blindly run or misinterpret as stories PR and communications PR - i.e. corporate communications to a small extent Essential journalism skills "Operating" as a journalist – door knocking; researching stories; answering the phone; spotting stories; some health and safety Would rather courses spent more time making sure students could spell and got things right Touch typing skills - not even mentioned! No one in the business of writing words should punch away using two or three fingers. Touch typing is a fundamental core skill. Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases is all respondents

The NCTJ does need to consider a ‘counterbalancing argument’ against these requests to widen the NCTJ diploma to encompass new skills areas to maintain a focus on ‘traditional’ journalism basics:

‘There is the need for the traditional skills as well as digital.’

Newspaper

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

‘What we need over and above the traditional skill set is for candidates to be absolutely flexible in terms of work – taking photographs and video - and absolutely conversant in social media and digital.’

Newspaper

‘We need the course to continue its strong journalism basics. Once more it appears the NCTJ is seeking to widen its educational remit when the local regional press requires trainees with 100 wpm shorthand and good basic journalism skills. This is difficult to achieve already so where teaching them about "brand recognition and value" would help is frankly beyond me. Areas like web / digital / etc can be taught once the trainees are in employment, but it is vital we do not reduce the teaching of core journalistic strengths news rooms require.’

Newspaper

The sectoral distribution shows, as would be expected, greater levels of support in sectors for those specialist options which relate to those specific sectors. Therefore, those in the PR and communications sector are more likely to support the inclusion of PR and communications skills for journalist’s option should be included in the core skills, those in TV and radio (and particularly radio) are more likely to support the inclusion of broadcast journalism in the core skills, etc. There is, by and large, majority support for the inclusion of media law court reporting as a core skill across all sectors, except magazines.

Table 15: Whether any of the specialist skill options should be included in the core skills by sector All Newspapers Magazines TV Radio Online PR and comms % % % % % % % Media law court reporting 70 82 20 67 86 71 53 Video journalism for online 49 50 40 58 57 57 33 Broadcast journalism (TV and 33 3 20 50 100 43 67 radio) Photography for journalists 32 39 60 17 14 29 27 Production journalism 29 26 60 33 57 0 20 PR and communications for 15 3 20 0 0 29 60 journalists Business and finance journalism 11 3 20 0 14 14 33 Sports journalism 8 8 0 8 0 14 13 Business of magazines 4 0 20 0 0 0 13

Other (please specify) 17 11 0 17 0 57 13

None of the above 6 8 0 8 0 0 7

Base 84 38 5 12 7 7 15

Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases is all respondents

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

3.2 Other possible inclusion in core skills

Respondents were also asked whether there are any other skills which should be included in the core skills for journalists. At this stage of the analysis we have listed them ‘verbatim’ below, although we have grouped these into broader categories.

The main grouping is the use of social media, either listed as a generic comment, in a request for its effective use, or some aspect of this, such as ‘live blogging’. Also prominent are skills which we have gathered together under ‘newsgathering’, which include the development and use of contacts, interview skills, etc. There is also a selection of respondents mentioning analytical and statistical skills – whether this be data journalism or audience analytics.

We need to be aware that these employer responses may not fully reflect the extent that some of these skills are already included in the curricula of the diploma. For example, social media is discussed several times in the learning objectives. Aspects of skills which we have gathered in ‘newsgathering’ below are already reflected in the learning objectives for ‘news reporting’ in the curriculum: the development and use of contacts, council reporting and shorthand, for example.

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

Social media Social media It's increasingly important that journalists write first for mobile platforms - and this requires a different tone and set of writing skills for a traditional print report Social media Online and mobile journalism more broadly Social media Social media Live blogging Effective use of social media social media and engagement Social media and journalism Social media Live news reporting (live blogging) Social Media Effective use of social media Essential journalism skills Good writing Grammar Basic English as there are now few subs to Grammar and punctuation assessment and improvement catch errors if necessary Feature writing Audience analytics Basic search / analytics / audience analysis Audience analytics audience analytics Understanding audience analytics Data journalism and gathering data gathering data journalism Data journalism data journalism Statistical analysis Data journalism - or an understanding of figures and the perils of stats. So many journalists are sucked in by flaky press releases and "consumer research" that they blindly run or misinterpret as stories Newsgathering Building and maintaining Questioning sources' impartiality & accuracy relationships/contacts Newsgathering FOIs, if not included in news reporting Use of contacts Research tools (online and print), Interview skills ‘’Operating" as a journalist – door knocking; researching stories; answering the phone; spotting stories; some health and safety Council reporting and understanding of Live reporting council agendas Sub-editing, use of language, correct use of Shorthand grammar Photo editing skills Social skills Politeness when dealing with PRs Communicating with people Phone skills - so many reporters can't use the phone Managerial and business skills Time management - but not sure how Managerial skills - particularly how to manage members assessed of a team An understanding of business needs Other General knowledge Writing for television Using a content management system Listicles Source: NCTJ Diploma Review Survey Note: bases is all respondents

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

The increasing importance of social or digital media was emphasised in the telephone interviews:

‘I want people coming for a job to tell me things I don’t know about digital publishing and to tell me things I don’t know about social media. We need people to take us forward at a huge rate.’

Newspaper

‘It is now so important that journalists recognise the importance of social media as a tool, for newsgathering and as a route to publication. It’s the area of massive growth: all publishers/broadcasters now have a social media desk and social media journalists.’

Television

‘Social media is integral to us – any journalist we recruit would need a really solid understanding of social media, because all their work is skewed very much to this rather than ‘traditional’ media outlets. Excellent social media skills are as important to us as traditional skills.’

PR and communications

‘Our principal concern is how digital journalism fits in with all this. Whatever the organisation’s ‘main’ platform (broadcast, print) digital journalism will be at the core of a journalist’s work. The NCTJ needs to ensure that people doing the diploma have the best opportunity to be digital journalists.’

Television

‘Social media is everything for a company like them. It’s all about putting material out on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. This is where all their output goes.’

Online

‘The ideal reporter thinks digital first and has good social media skills. Digital copy must be right first time – it is published without a second check; although print pages are read before publication.

Reporters must know their way round websites and social media; be able to see what’s trending and react to it – and how to access that information – and then pull it all together for new content.’

Newspapers

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

The increasing importance of mobile devices to consume news content is noted by a number of interviewees:

’50 per cent of the audience is on mobile.’

Newspapers

‘The way stories are written is changing to meet the needs of mobile: 55 per cent of our audience is mobile (that’s phone) – the total is greater than the print audience.’

Newspapers

Some respondents were aware that ‘social media’ is taught within the current curriculum, but the change needs to be greater than constructing an option called ‘social media’ and allowing students to take it. The curriculum and skills taught may need to be re-examined and, where necessary, changed to reflect that:

‘It’s not about having a module called ‘social media’: it’s much wider than this. There is a need for a model called ‘digital reporting’ of which social media will be a part.’

Broadcaster

The question thus arises as to what is meant by ‘social media’ or ‘digital media’ skills. Points made in the telephone interviews are that:

 writing for social media means that some of what are regarded as ‘traditional’ skills may also have to be seen in a new light – a writing style that is suitable for writing for a print platform may not be suitable for social media:

‘We do look for different skills – when we look at their style of writing they want something which is more suited for social media than a traditional paper – it is very different in tone, content, etc.’

PR and communications

‘They need to be able to interact, hold a conversation with slight detachment – you are not everyone’s mate.’

Magazines

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

 the curriculum should not focus on specific platforms. Whilst most interviewees are using Twitter and Facebook as their main platforms, the speed at which this changes means that it would be difficult to embed these in the curriculum:

‘The main platforms we use are Twitter and Facebook, but if the NCTJ insisted on these being taught they would look very out of date very soon.’

PR and communications

‘It’s not about teaching people how to use social media – they know this already. The people who will be coming to do the diploma will all be media savvy. If they try and train people this, the danger is that an older generation will be trying to train people about something they inherently know far more about.’

Broadcaster

‘What should be taught under this is difficult. It should not be the technology – it changes too fast for an organisation like the NCTJ to provide training on it. It might line up courses on Twitter now, but in two years they might be passé.’

Television

 the curriculum should concentrate on the principles of publishing journalistic output on social media platforms:

‘What it is about is how they can exploit social media for the purposes of journalism, how to deliver journalism on a social media platform. This is about the gathering of information, delivery of stories using digital platforms, regardless of your primary platform.’

Broadcaster

‘What are the pitfalls of using social media - many have made bad mistakes.’

PR and communications

‘What has to be taught is that the rules/ethics that apply to publication in print or on broadcast also apply on social media – the regulatory framework still applies, the ethical considerations still apply.’

Television

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

‘It’s important for journalists to realise that principles, standards and ethics that apply in print also apply online – for example, if a court case is active they won’t put it on Facebook.’

Online

There are specific issues to be aware of when using social media in a PR and Communications context. The dangers of mis-using social media are clear:

‘But it is open to (and being) mis-used. People can get themselves into all sorts of trouble (defamation) if they do not apply the right principles.’

Television

Aspects of law and how they apply to the emerging area of digital and social media are important:

‘Copyright is a big pitfall with material taken from YouTube, Twitter, Facebook grabs. People come on and want £200 for a photo we have used.’

Newspapers

‘Where do you stand with photographs from Facebook and Instagram. Does fair use apply?’

Newspapers

There is a need to write in a different style:

‘It all has to be set in the ‘corporate voice’.’

PR and communications

‘Writing for social media is different, requires a different style. Strangely, it’s often not about them writing too much, but it’s about them writing too little. There’s a tendency just to write headlines and a link. They need to liven it up, be conversational. Some are better than others at this – most think they need to be straight and rigid, when they need to put more personality in there to attract readers.’

Online

And a need to be aware of the blurring of identities between an individual’s role as a journalist and them writing in their own capacity:

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

‘Journalists have to be aware – if they work for us, then they cannot go on social media in a private capacity and say ‘so and so is rubbish’ because the average reader will not distinguish between the two.’

PR and communications

‘Social media should be used with discretion and care. Professional use must be taught. Some youngsters turn their Twitter stream into an “all about them”, rather than Tweeting as a representative of the paper or magazine. They need to ring-fence their private and professional lives.’

Magazines

Other issues raised in the telephone interviews include:

 entrepreneurship: with the rise in freelance working, journalist trainees may need some training in working for yourself or being entrepreneurs. This is not, however, relevant for freelance journalists – in many bigger corporate environments journalists will be expected to ‘pitch’ or ‘bid’ for internal project funding.

‘This is not just for freelance journalists –internal competition means that they have to compete and pitch, both against other internal teams, and external teams. These would be useful skills to have.’

Broadcaster

‘In a world where there are fewer staff, more contract working, more fixed-term contracts, etc, something about surviving in an uncertain and difficult environment would be useful.’

Broadcaster

 data journalism: with the ability to use databases to identify and develop stories in an interesting and informative way.

‘Data journalism is part of a package of skills that a modern journalist has to have in their tool kit – as much as social media. It’s about being able to use data to find stories, being able to understand and manipulate data so that it goes beyond the obvious.’

Broadcaster

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

‘Knowledge and understanding of analytics would be hugely beneficial. Google Analytics is freely available and should be the base for teaching – gives the headline figures, the source of traffic and helps set the news agenda. However, they need to be taught that the information needs to be tempered because you could end up with all weather and giant spider stories.’

Newspapers

 experiences: with the need for a greater degree of real life experiences:

‘What is often missing, although this varies from course to course, is some real life experiences. Is it possible to commit training providers to some level, some number of these - visits to courts, visits to a variety of live sporting events, real press box experience? There is a need to get them out doing real life experience.’

Television

 people skills: with the need for a greater degree of ability to interact with the public:

‘We need people who have good people skills – not sales people, but people who can talk to people and persuade them to upload their content and their stories onto their website. Journalists don’t seem to have these skills – don’t have the persuasiveness, it’s about making people want to do it.’

Online

‘Some also are poor with interacting with the ordinary person in the high street. They can do the social media but the skills needed for human contact are sometimes lacking.’

Newspapers

4 Discussion points and recommendations

There appear to be two driving forces in the changing of skills and therefore the necessary changes in the content of the diploma curricula. These are:

 the increased dispersion of journalism employment across different sectors: there may be emerging within the broader ‘journalism’ banner separate journalism branches – the distinction for example between a print journalist and a social media journalist; and

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

 the practical universal adoption of some form of digital or social media publication by employers. Whilst there are only relatively few respondents who gave their main sector as online, all have an online presence.

If this fragmentation is a reality, is there a case for reducing the number of ‘core’ skills because in this ‘wider’ occupation (or occupations) there are fewer skills which are truly ‘core’. On the basis of the analysis above, there would probably be only two which are considered important across all sectors: news reporting and essential media law and regulation. On this basis, these would be the only two ‘retained’ core skills.

It is difficult to imagine that, even in the post-Leveson world, that it would be considered reasonable for journalism practitioners not to have some education and training in the area of ethics. On this basis, the core skill of practical journalism ethics would appear to be important to be retained.

Regarding shorthand – whilst not the most important of the core skills (it ranked fourth out of six in the scorings), this does not mean that it is not regarded as important. 80 per cent stated that shorthand was important and furthermore, nearly two thirds stated that the minimum acceptable speed is 100 words per minute.

But are we seeing a sectoral divide? All respondents from magazines (albeit a small sample) and 97 per cent of those in the newspaper sector regarded shorthand as being important, but significant proportions in all other sectors regard shorthand as not being important: 33 per cent of those in TV, 43 per cent of those in radio, 57 per cent of online respondents and 60 per cent of those in PR and communications. Can a skill be regarded as being a ‘core’ skill if such significant proportions in a number of sectors do not regard it as important? Does this suggest that shorthand should be a specialist skill, not a core one?

If seeking to add to the core skills, media law court reporting clearly stands out as the most popular of the specialist skills options.

The increased employment of journalism in new sectors and the changing role of some journalists in traditional ones means that identifying and agreeing ‘core’ skills becomes ever more difficult. What is ‘core’ for one job may not be so for another, even though both may legitimately be called journalists. We therefore recommend that consideration is given to reducing the number of mandatory units to three: news reporting, essential media law and regulation and practical journalism ethics.

Clearly this has implications for those units which have been moved from mandatory status. The main concern is for students who do not take shorthand and then find themselves unable to apply for jobs in those sectors in which shorthand is still regarded as being mandatory: it is important that individual students when considering their options receive appropriate information about the implications of their choices.

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

However, there is also clearly a view that social media should be the focus of more attention. It receives amongst the highest importance rankings when it is as a skill in content creation and content delivery and it is also the most prominent skill mentioned in open questions when (i) respondents were asked whether any of the specialist skills which should be included in the core skills and (ii) whether there were any other skills which should be included in the core skills. This is despite ‘social media’ appearing in learning objectives in various points in the curriculum as it stands.

The need for employers seems to be for an enhanced emphasis on social and digital media journalism within the curriculum and not the creation of a new and separate ‘social media’ specialist skill option in its own right as a standalone (bolt-on). Rather, it is the case that social media is embedded across the entire curriculum. So that, for example, where the curriculum considers ethics, it is made clear and explicit that this covers not only writing for print, but also social media; where the curriculum covers news reporting, it needs to be made clear that this also covers social media, and so on. To an extent, this already happens – for example the inclusion of social media already within the news reporting core skill option. But this needs enhancing and widening across all curricula elements and it needs publicising to the extent that this has happened.

There are other skills areas which appear to be of interest, if not universal. The most common amongst these is increased statistical awareness and understanding, reflected in the demand for data journalism and audience analytics. This needs to be explored further and therefore we recommend that further work is undertaken to more fully understand what would be included in such a module.

Review of the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism

Annex 1: Names of telephone interviewees

Neil Benson, editorial director, Trinity Mirror Regionals Ian Carter, editorial director, KM Group Joe Ferrari, head of PR & communications, Norwich City Football Club Will Gore, deputy managing editor, London Evening Standard, the Independent, I and Independent on Sunday Cally Jenkins, OneMK Peter John, group editor, Newsquest Roger Kaspar, head of editorial, Kent and Sussex Courier and Sevenoaks Chronicle Alastair Machray, editor, Liverpool Echo Sarah Marshall, social media editor, EMEA, the Wall Street Journal Mark Payton, editorial director, Haymarket Consumer Media David Powles, assistant editor Archant Norfolk Richard Prest, editor, Sunday Post and the Weekly News Gary Shipton, editor-in-chief, Sussex Newspapers and deputy chairman of Johnston Press Editorial Board Patrick Smith, news reporter, Buzz Feed Mark Sutcliffe, editor, Sala Media Neil Thompson, editor, ITV Good Morning Britain Laurie Tucker, editor, Sky Sports Kevin Ward, editor, South Wales Argus John Wilson, editorial learning and development manager, Johnston Press Paul Wiltshire, regional editorial trainer, Local World Mark Wray, head of training, BBC