London and Manchester-based training group News Associates has appointed a panel of industry experts to help it maintain standards.
The editorial advisory board will be chaired by Graham Dudman, the former managing editor of The Sun and most recently editorial development director at News UK.
Dudman will be joined by former Sky News managing editor Simon Cole, journalist and media trainer Claire Gillingwater, former Manchester Evening News editor Paul Horrocks, executive editor of Sportsbeat David Parsons and Times obituariies editor Simon Pearson.
Dudman said: “We will ensure the remarkable high standards achieved at News Associates are maintained and improved and that every trainee experiences a wide range of journalistic skills making them ready for work.”
Last month News Associates was named the NCTJ’s top performing centre and top fast-track course. In addition their graduates won five Excellence in Journalism Awards, including student journalist of the year.
According to the NCTJ annual report, last year 388 journalists graduated through NCTJ qualifications from 80 courses across the country with a gold standard diploma – of these 37 per cent were trained at the six courses run by News Associates in London and Manchester.
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