Sunday 26 February 2017

Stephen Lawrence journalism bursaries


The Daily Mail and the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust have teamed up with City University to launch a bursary to help students from under-represented groups break into journalism. 
The Mail has long-supported the family of Stephen, who was murdered at 18 in 1993. The paper began its Stephen Lawrence scholarship in 2015 to help promote diversity in journalism. The first two trainees, Alexander Holmes and Victoria Ibitoye, are now working full time on the Showbiz and City desks. 
The successful applicants for the next scheme will receive a full-fee scholarship for a postgraduate degree course starting in September, support from City journalism academics and placements at the Mail. They will also receive financial help for living expenses, rent and other costs while studying.
After completing the MA programme, the candidates will be offered a place on the Mail's editorial graduate trainee scheme and will receive a 12-month paid contract. Research has shown that 94 per cent of journalists working in newsrooms in the UK are white, while the overwhelming majority of entrants to the profession come from middle class (ABC1) backgrounds.
Mail editor Paul Dacre said: 'We share with Stephen’s family the wish that more hardworking students from disadvantaged backgrounds should also look to journalism as a career – just as Stephen aspired to become an architect before his life was so viciously cut short. We are delighted that we have been able to provide a substantial investment for these bursaries and bring them into our training scheme.'
Stephen's mother, Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon, said: 'The Daily Mail showed, through their reporting on Stephen's killers, that journalism can make a difference. Stephen's legacy, through the Foundation established in his name, is to give opportunity to young men and women who have the talent and the ambition to go far but need a helping hand. I am delighted with this partnership which has already given an opportunity to two young people, and that the two new recruits will be sent on the prestigious journalism course at City University. 
If you are interested send a CV, portfolio and a personal statement of no more than 500 words to sldmscholarship@city.ac.uk by Friday April 7 at 5pm. Full details of the scholarship can be found at www.city.ac.uk/journalism.

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