Diversity Fund Recipients 2009-2010
Cohort 1
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India Adams India, 24, from South Shields, graduated from Newcastle University in June 2009 with a degree in English Literature. During her time at university she wrote for the student newspaper, mainly focusing on music and gig reviews. After graduating, India embarked upon a week's work experience with The Big Issue magazine in Glasgow which she found invaluable in her understanding of what it takes to be a journalist. Subsequently she spent six weeks writing for her local paper, the South Shields Gazette, during which time she built up her portfolio of published work considerably. India looks forward to beginning the MA News Journalism course at the University of Sunderland in September 2009 and believes that this will be the beginning of a bright career in journalism. |
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Martin Graham Martin Graham has worked as a reporter for the past 18 months for Local News Glasgow covering news, politics and local campaign issues. Martin is also content manager for the newspaper’s website www.localnewsglasgow.co.uk. In September 2009 he will start an MA in Multi Media Journalism at Glasgow Caledonian University. |
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Amanda Hall After graduating with a BA in Ancient History from the University of Birmingham, Amanda completed four months voluntary work reporting for her local newspaper. Her passion for a career in journalism began during a volunteering project in Uganda, where she became interested in the politics of developing countries and subsequently wrote a number of articles for her student newspaper. Since graduating, Amanda has participated in another charity project teaching English to Palestinian people living in the West Bank refugee camps. She wishes to use her experiences in the area to report on the ongoing political and humanitarian issues concerning the Middle East. Thanks to the Journalism Diversity Fund, Amanda will start an MA in Print Journalism at the University of Sheffield in September 2009 and hopes one day to become an in international correspondent for a national newspaper. |
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Sophie Maden Sophie, 21, from Lancashire, gained a 2.1 in Combined Arts at Durham University where she wrote for several student publications and formed part of the news team at the Palatinate newspaper. Following a year in France, Sophie also gained experience working at the Accrington Observer and Lancashire Telegraph, interviewing MP Greg Pope, The Great British Menu chef Nigel Haworth and also reporting on Prince William’s visit. This work experience inspired Sophie to apply for NCTJ accredited postgraduate courses to gain core skills including shorthand and media law. The print course at Sheffield University particularly appealed to her due to its multimedia focus and convergence project, and she is looking forward to beginning the course in September with the help of the Journalism Diversity Fund. |
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Nneka Opara Nneka has had a passion for journalism since completing a short placement at her local newspaper at the age of 16. She completed a degree in Film and Hispanic studies at Queen Mary University in London and wrote articles for her university sports newspaper and for the National Student magazine while she was there. After graduating, she was invited to complete two separate work placements at Pulse Magazine writing features and conducting interviews, and continues to write theatre reviews for them. She had also been working as a documentary researcher for a production company before securing a place on the Lambeth Fast Track Journalism course which she will begin in September 2009. |
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Nicola Williams Nicola, 22, has just graduated from the University of East Anglia with an Honours degree in Society, Culture and Media. Having harboured an aspiration to become a journalist since her teens, Nicola has completed work experience at her local Hertfordshire-based newspaper The Comet, and also contributed to various sections of her university’s newspaper Concrete. Determined to succeed as a journalist, Nicola will be starting a course in Newspaper Journalism at Harlow College this September. |
Cohort 2
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Sharan Bajwa Sharan, 22, from the East Midlands, knew journalism was for her almost immediately after starting university. After completing a degree in English and Linguistics at Queen Mary, University of London, in 2008, she has spent a year taking up voluntary placements and freelancing in order to gain as much experience before beginning a PgDip in Journalism at De Montfort University, Leicester, in September 2009. Her goal is to continually produce thought inducing journalism that will help facilitate meaningful discussion. |
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Mark Elliott Mark graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2008 on completion of a history degree. Since then, he has completed work placements at BBC Sport and Sky Sports and had a number of articles published by the Shropshire Star newspaper. Mark is currently the club commentator for Queens Park Rangers Football Club and recently edited a magazine for an international football tournament. In September, Mark begins a full time newspaper journalism course at noSWeat in London. He hopes to write for a national newspaper and commentate on national television. |
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Glenn McMahon After 20 years in the lift industry, which included an apprenticeship and a degree in Engineering, Glenn McMahon, 36, from London, has decided to change to a career in Journalism. His passion for current affairs and politics has fuelled this change. Glenn first began writing during his ten months in Israel and Palestine and has since had work experience on Al-Jazeera's English web service. He is also keen to gain work experience in both local and national publications. He starts the NCTJ Fast-track News Journalism course at Lambeth College in September. |
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Nicola Roots Nicola Roots is about to start an MA in Journalism at Kingston University. She has gained experience since completing her degree in English Literature and Drama on a local radio station, and has also written articles and reviews for a parenting website as well as advertising content for a local business. She plans to build on her existing skills, pass the NCTJ exams as part of her MA, and gain a solid and invaluable vocational training. As a busy mother of one she also volunteers as a youth worker in her local area and has a keen interest in youth issues and education. She has always had a passion for writing and has been writing short stories and poems from a young age. She later wrote plays at the BRIT school whilst studying Drama. She is looking forward to completing her MA which has been made possible with the help she is receiving from the Journalism Diversity Fund. |
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Carl Rose Carl graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a 2.1 in Media Studies where he specialised in Photography and Multimedia Applications. He has worked as a freelance photographer and has had his photos published in the national and broadsheet newspapers including The Times, The Express, The Mirror, The Sun, and the Financial Times. He loves the challenge of interpreting a brief and feels most proud when he sees his images in print. Carl will be starting at The Norton College, Sheffield studying Photo Journalism in September. |
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Paul Smith Paul Smith, 22, graduated from the University of Ulster, Coleraine, with a first class honours degree in Journalism and Psychology in 2008 and will be returning in September to start a Masters in Journalism. During the undergraduate course he did work experience with the Irish Football Association where he wrote about local teams and players for the Belfast Telegraph. He also spent a week with the BBC at the Milk Cup football tournament where he created video reports for their website. He believes it is important in modern journalism to have skills which allow an easy transition between print, broadcast and online media, and thinks the Masters course will provide him with those skills. |
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Sam Smith Sam Smith studied History and French at the University of Sussex and has been working freelance at BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey on the sports show as well as contributing to a couple of local magazines. He is going to study a print journalism course at News Associates starting in March 2010. |
Cohort 3
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Pavan Amara Pavan, 22, from Enfield, North London started writing for Rape Crisis' newsletter two years ago. After hearing from readers how her work had genuinely influenced them, she wrote for charities such as Southall Black Sisters and Refuge. From here she began writing for women's magazines covering a range of issues, from engaging hard-hitting features to celebrity interviews and campaigning journalism. Her work has been published in Cosmopolitan, Scarlett, Pride, and Asian Woman magazines. Pavan has also contributed to Amnesty International's newsletter covering issues such as child trafficking, HIV, and the death penalty. She hopes to continue with similar work in the future, after completing her fast-track course at noSWeat Journalism Training which she is due to start in March. |
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Katie Anderson Katie, 21, from Hull, graduated from the University of Huddersfield in July 2009 with a first class honours degree in media and print journalism. During her time at university Katie completed two work experience placements for regional newspapers The Dewsbury Reporter and The Huddersfield Examiner, which provided her with a substantial portfolio and a range of experience. This work experience prompted Katie to apply for NCTJ accredited courses to enable the development of her journalistic skills. Due to the helpful support from the Journalism Diversity Fund, Katie will be starting The Press Association’s intensive multimedia training course in Newcastle in January 2010, and hopes this will be the first step to a bright career. |
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Khudael Ashraf Khudael graduated from the University of Bedfordshire in 2008 with a first class degree in journalism. During this time, he put theory into practice by writing for his local newspaper, the Herald and Post. After getting in touch with the editor of a trendy bi-monthly magazine called Brit-Asian, Khudael was appointed the sports editor of the publication. In the summer of 2007, Khudael worked as a footballer reporter for Collings Sport, getting published in national newspapers the News of the World and The Independent. He is hoping to land a job at a busy newsdesk after finishing his studies at noSWeat Journalism Training. |
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Lowri Stafford Lowri, 22, from Kent, graduated with a first class honours degree in humanities from the University of Greenwich. She has harboured an ambition to become a journalist since childhood, and in recent years, has endeavoured to gain a broad insight into the industry by pursuing a number of work experience placements. These included a month spent at the BBC current affairs and features programme, ‘Inside Out’. She then spent a month working at a local newspaper, which allowed her to build up a respectable portfolio of published work. A two week placement at the international news agency Associated Press followed. Thanks to the Journalism Diversity Fund, she is now looking forward to beginning the NCTJ fast-track course in newspaper journalism at Harlow College, which she feels will enhance her future career prospects immensely. |
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Matthew Tollitt
Ever since Matthew started his photography degree, he has had a passion for documentary photography. Since graduating, he has been fortunate enough to be in contact with Anthony Devlin, who is a news photographer for the Press Association in London. He was able to visit him and shoot on events such as the Iraq war remembrance ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral and was also able to gain a valuable insight into his working schedule and witnessed the postproduction such as the editing of images after the shoot. His experience with the Press Association and with Manchester Evening News has confirmed that this is a definite career path for him. Having gained a place on the NCTJ in Press Photography course at the Norton College in Sheffield, Matthew hopes to work towards establishing myself as a skilled press photographer.
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