Aspiring motoring journalists will have the chance to learn the basics about the car industry due to a new journalism trainee course which has been set up at Coventry University.
The course, due to start in October, was founded by Haymarket’s motoring group editor-in-chief Steve Cropley (pictured above).
Cropley, who oversees titles such as Autocar, said students will be able to get a grounding in journalism as well as specialist automotive industry input and expert guidance from journalists practicing in the field.
He pitched the idea of a training course to a professor at the university over a year ago because he felt many motoring journalists lacked basic knowledge about car mechanics and the selling process.
“He listened, saw a link with Coventry’s existing courses, and put it into action. I’ll be an external friend of the course, helping to arrange visiting lecturers, doing a bit myself and generally greasing the wheels,” Cropley said.
Cropley is hoping to attract backing from other publishers and the motor industry in general which, he said “has much to gain from having its affairs and products written about to a high standard”.
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