The Sun and press agency Sportsbeat are offering a new 40-week sports journalism scholarship worth £7,500 to a resident of one of London’s six Olympic boroughs.
The scheme, which will begin in September, includes nearly nine months of journalism training and two paid internships – six weeks at Sportsbeat and three months on SunSport.
The training will take place at Sportsbeat’s headquarters, which it shares with National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) centre News Associates in Wimbledon.
Sun editor Dominic Mohan said: “We are delighted to be involved in this project which offers an excellent journalistic opportunity and builds on the London 2012 Olympic legacy.”
People from diverse backgrounds, who have been put off training as a journalist because of course fees, in either Hackney, Barking and Dagenham, Greenwich, Tower Hamlets, Newham or Waltham Forest, are being encouraged to apply for the place.
The programme will start in September, when the recipient will complete their NCTJ training while also working on The Sun’s sports desk on a weekly Friday placement.
As well as sports journalism training, the winner will also be trained in other core NCTJ modules including news reporting, shorthand, video journalism, media law and public affairs
“This scholarship is a wonderful idea which will give someone an opportunity to break into the exciting world of sports journalism while experiencing at first-hand how the sports desk of a national newspaper works,” said NCTJ chief executive Joanne Butcher.
“I welcome the initiative by The Sun and Sportsbeat to help widen the diversity of journalism trainees.”
Sportsbeat editor David Parsons said: “There will certainly be plenty of opportunities to work at sporting venues across the country and assist our journalists reporting on the build-up to the 2014 Commonwealth Games.”
The application process opens tomorrow (1 February 2013) and the deadline is 30 April 2013. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for a day of sports journalism training and will sit a two hour exam on 17 May before the successful person is announced on 26 June.
Application forms are available by emailing sunscholarship@sportsbeat.co.uk.
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