The Sports Journalists’ Association, together with PMA Media Training, is again offering the chance for one impressive applicant to become a trained journalist – and to save nearly £2,000 in fees along the way.
This second SJA bursary will pay half of the course fee for one person on this winter’s nine-week course in magazine journalism, to be held in Camden Town, London, by PMA Media Training.
If you want to be a journalist, it’s vital that you learn the core skills before you specialise.
At the end of this nine-week course, which starts on January 10 and finishes on March 11, you will have all the core skills demanded by editors.
AND you’ll get help in finding a job in journalism.
About the course
This course is run in central London by PMA Media Training, the largest communications training company in Europe.
Only 12 people are chosen – and you could be one of them.
It is the shortest and most intensive of all the approved pre-entry journalism courses.
It has held the blue-chip stamp of the Periodicals Training Council, the governing body of the magazine industry, ever since it was launched 22 years ago.
What you will learn
All the core skills demanded by today’s editors:
- News-writing
- Feature-writing
- Interviewing
- Sub-editing
- Headlines
- Proof-reading
- Libel and copyright
- Design and layout
- Writing and editing for the Web
- Shooting video
- Editing your videos
- Shorthand
Where does it take place?
The course is based at the Centre for Media Excellence in Camden Town, London.
What are my chances of a job?
Previous people who have taken the courses include Mark Kleinman, now Sky News city editor; Sara Cremer, editorial director of Redwood Publishing; Nils Pratley, deputy City editor of The Guardian; Matt Slater, BBC Sport journalist and winner of the SJA’s internet sports journalist of the year; Glyn Wilmshurst, director of Touchline Publishing, a sports contract publishing company; Grant Ringshaw, former City editor of the Sunday Times, Rory Kinsella, sub-editor of channel4.com music, and many, many more.
A word of warning
This is full on, seven days a week. No weekends off, no going home at 5pm. You have to put your social life on hold for nine weeks. If you’re not fully committed, don’t bother to apply.
What will it cost me?
The course normally costs £3,760 (inc VAT). But under the SJA bursary scheme, the recipient will have to pay just £1,880.
You will also have the prestige of being the SJA’s bursary winner, which will undoubtedly give you a huge advantage when it comes to looking for a job.
What do I do next?
Go to www.becomeajournalist.co.uk and complete the application form. You must mark your entry “SJA Bursary” to be eligible for the award.A panel of experienced, senior SJA members will select the person whom we feel is most deserving of the award.
But do so quickly: the closing date is Friday October 29.
* Note: The judges’ decision is final. There is no cash equivalent to the prize. The prize can only be used as part-payment towards the cost of attending the specified course. Other standard terms and conditions apply.