August 25, 2020 (Updated )
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve heard from hundreds of young people, career changers, and freelance journalists – all of them worried about the impact the crisis will have on their future careers.
During the past six months our team has tried our best to help as many people as we can, providing one-to-one advice, events, online resources, and more. However, we wanted to do something more to help those who were making their first steps into the journalism industry.
Thanks to the kind support of our partners at The Journalists’ Charity, The Printing Charity, the Solutions Journalism Network, and The Society of Editors, we hope we’ve been able to create something which does just that – the inaugural Journo Resources Fellowship.
The two-month long scheme, which offers fellows one-to-one mentoring, workshops, CV reviews, and paid writing opportunities, attracted almost 400 applications from across the UK and Ireland, all of whom received personalised feedback.
The fellows will receive in-depth training on pitching, solutions journalism, social media, and job hunting skills, as well as the chance to produce at least one paid piece for the soon to be relaunched Journo Resources’ advice section.
We’re delighted to now announce the final cohort who come from all across the UK– which we’re also thrilled to have been able to double from six to 12 thanks to our supporters. You can find out more about them and their sponsor organisations below.
Fellows Supported By The Journalists’ Charity
The Journalists’ Charity was founded by Charles Dickens in 1864 to help journalists and their dependents going through tough times.
More than 150 years later, the organisation remains committed to providing advice and support to individuals across the industry, at a time when journalism had arguably never been more important to society. Find out more about them here.
Alexandra Dinning, Salford
Alexandra is based in Salford, with a wide portfolio spanning disability activism, homelessness, and more. During the fellowship scheme she’ll be looking at digital ways of interviewing people.
She said: “I am super excited to contribute to an organisation that I’ve gained so much advice from in the past and I look forward to learning more about a solutions focused approach to journalism!”
You can see her Medium portfolio here.
Laverne Caprice, Essex
Laverne joins the scheme with bylines from outlets including EachOther, Sistem Magazine, and Metro.co.uk. As part of the Journo Resources fellowship she’ll be looking at how to ensure people of colour are not pigeon-holed into one topic or made a spokesperson.
She said: “Writing and investigating subject matters I am most passionate about is something I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m grateful to take strides in this as a Journo Resources Fellow!”
You can follow her on Twitter here.
Kate Guna Kūlniece, London
Kate joins the scheme with a passion for investigative and longform journalism, and will be looking into the effect of AI and tech on the journalism industry as part of the JR Fellowship.
She said: “As someone with aspirations of becoming an investigative journalist, I’m excited to work alongside the professionals at the JR and learn how to pitch a story, interview, conduct a research, edit, as well as create content for all the social media platforms.”
You can see her portfolio here.
Ewan Morgan, Cardiff
Ewan joins the scheme from Cardiff with a passion for politics and sport, with a focus on e-sports. He’ll be looking into the career opportunities within the latter for his piece as part of the JR scheme.
He said: “I’m really excited to be joining the Fellowship Scheme – mainly, I’m excited to learn the ins and outs of the industry from those who know it best. I’m also looking forward to improving my writing!”
You can follow him on Twitter here.
Sharron Logan, London
Sharron trained as a journalist at PA training and has a passion for current affairs. She has written for the South London Press, The PA Diploma website and Vivid Travel.
She said: “I am really looking forward to learning more about translating stories into native digital content for social media platforms and the one to one journalism mentoring sessions.”
Fellows Supported By The Printing Charity
The Printing Charity is the only dedicated charity for people working within the printing sector, and aims to make life better for everyone in genuine need, as well as finding ways to extend their reach and impact on new people.
You can read more about them and their work here.
Anisah Arif, Bradford
Anisah is a graduate of Liverpool John Moore’s University and has experience across the Liverpool Echo, Asian Sunday Newspaper and more. As part of the fellowship scheme she’ll looking into the misconception of journalism as a poor career route in some households.
She said: “I am looking forward to learning more about the world of journalism directly from experienced people on a personal level as well as gaining a hands on opportunity to build relationships/contacts by creating content, joining classes and gaining insight feedback to my work.”
You can follow her on Twitter here.
April Ryan, Wirral
April is an NCTJ graduate who has written for outlets including Empoword Journalism, Wirral Globe, and more. As a Journo Resources Fellow she’ll be looking to create resources for disabled journalists and answer common questions.
She said: “Journalism’s always been an area I have wanted to pursue, but due to disability and circumstance, I used to believe that it just was not for me. I hope the scheme gives me the time and space to prove myself wrong, while giving me the chance to explore diversity issues in depth.”
You can follow her on Twitter here.
Marco Marcelline, Glasgow
Marco is a recent journalism graduate whose portfolio ranges range music and pop culture to profiles and investigations. For the JR Fellowship he will be looking into the experience of writers after they have come forward with allegations of racism within the industry.
He said: “I’m so excited to work alongside a team of amazing young journalists and hone my pitch writing skills!”
You can see his portfolio here.
Fellows Supported By The Society Of Editors
The Society of Editors is a membership organisation of more than 400 people, including editors, managing editors, media lawyers and academics.
The society believes in the universal right to freedom of expression, high editorial standards, the importance of the vitality of the news media in a democratic society, and both press freedom and the public’s right to know. Find out more about them here.
Heather Graham, Glasgow
A recent journalism graduate, Heather also runs Not What You Thought, a website which aims to challenge perspectives by showcasing different relationships.
She’ll looking to interview a series of journalists about their first big stories throughout the scheme. “I’m so excited to join this scheme! I’ve been reading Journo Resources for a few years now, so writing for them is the ideal starting point for my career.”
You can also follow her on Twitter.
Fellows Supported by Journo Resources
Journo Resources is a start-up that was launched in 2016 with the aim of diversifying the media industry by providing free tools, training, advice, and resources to people at all stages of their careers. You can find out more about our values here.
Sirri Rimppi, Carlisle
Sirri is a former winner of the Scottish Student Journalism Awards and also runs her own travel and lifestyle blog Near Here Way Away. For Journo Resources she will be looking into the challenges and advantages of embarking on a journalism career when English is your second language.
She said: “I am very excited to join the scheme and, among other things, I hope to learn more about pitching a story and tailoring it for multiple platforms.”
You can read her blog here.
Danielle Desouza, London
Danielle brings a passion for solutions journalism to the JR Fellowship, as well as extensive research on refugee comics, which she’ll be putting to use as part of an original feature produced during the scheme.
She is also the blog editor and a podcaster for GlobalGirl Media UK, a charity that teaches media skills to underprivileged and BAME girls between the ages of 14-22.
She said: “I am looking forward to learning about how to take my next steps into the media industry; an industry which I fell in love with at the age of 18. I am super excited to work with Journo Resources. It is an organisation I regularly use to search for media vacancies, so am beyond lucky and happy to work with the brilliant team and the sponsor organisations.”
You can see her LinkedIn here.
Sofia Ferreira Santos, Reading
Sofia has written publications including gal-dem and the Media Diversity Institute, and will be working on a feature for Journo Resources about why and how publications should avoid putting writers of colour, LGBT+ journalists and other groups “in a box”.
She said: “I’m so thrilled to join the scheme as a Fellow. Journo Resources has been a massive support to me in job hunting, learning how to pitch and how to smash my CV, and I’m looking forward to learning even more from JR and the scheme’s supporting charities. I’m also really excited to create content for the JR website and help to support other young journalists’ journeys into the industry!”
You can follow her on Twitter here.
