Foundation Courses in Journalism: Testimonials

Rhodri Phillips

I was a privately funded delegate but managed to get a job on The
Journal, the morning paper in Newcastle, after finishing the course in December 2003. I am now working on the Mail on Sunday.

Michael Greenwood

Assistant News Editor, The Daily Mirror
(Newcastle trainee - 1997)

There is plethora of so-called journalism training centres but Newcastle is
the real thing. Unlike many courses it is based in a newspaper office NOT on a university campus. The staff there will arm you with the skills to tackle tough stories and tough news desks.

Andy Coulson

Director of Communications for the Conservative Party and former editor of the News of the World

Days spent with Sylvia Bennett patiently trying to get me to 100 wpm and evenings trawling my Robertsbridge district for stories set me on the journalistic road.  I'd recommend the Hastings Training Centre to anyone seriously committed to a career in newspaper journalism.

Patrice John

Senior Reporter, Birmingham Mail

Patrice John, aged 27, is a senior reporter at the Birmingham Mail. She
started at the Mail in April 2004. She trained in Newcastle from September to December 2003.

"The training in Newcastle was invaluable because it gave me all the
skills I needed to be a real reporter. I was not cooped up in a classroom all the time, learning about the theories of how to get a good story. I was sent out there, given a patch to work, and encouraged to pitch my stories to working news editors and editors. It is a course that allowed me to build up my cuttings while I was studying and that is like gold dust to any reporter."

Rosa Prince

Daily Mirror Political Correspondent
Training Centre September 1997 - December 1997

THE training course at Newcastle equipped me with every skill I needed to hit the ground running when I joined the Daily Mirror news room as a green as grass reporter nearly nine years ago.

By focusing on the practical skills I would use every day as a working hack - from interviewing technique to writing style and shorthand - I felt confident of my abilities as I took on the formidable challenge of jumping in at the deep-end.

Newcastle is a such great city (or news "patch" as I learned to call it) in which to learn the trade, and the staff at the training centre were so friendly and kind, that on a personal level it was also a fantastically fun and rewarding four months.

John Sage

Editorial Director Teletext Ltd

The Hastings course gives budding journalists a great start in their career. Yes, you get taught the essential knowledge and technical skills, but nothing tests your ability and love of journalism more than being sent out to find stories on a windy day in Hastings – and then to produce a paper from scratch. I really enjoyed my six months there. The course is hard work, but it can be inspiring too – you never forget the effect of a Robin Thompson law lecture!

Ryan Parry

US Editor, Daily Mirror

I had spent 10 months on a post-grad course at Leeds before starting the Trinity-Mirror foundation course and I was not looking forward to another four months training. But the course packed so much in that it proved invaluable to my development as a national newspaper journalist.

Unlike those on many journalism courses, the teachers come straight from the newsroom and trainees benefit from years of experience. Reporting skills are honed to be able to take on any news story in any environment.

Emma Wilkinson

Head of Editorial, Chelsea Football Club

The Hastings course taught me all about newspaper law, local and central government, typing, shorthand and honed by writing skills as I tried to find interesting stories from my Bexhill patch. I also learned all about the camaraderie which comes with being a journalist. I thoroughly enjoyed my five months on the South Coast and it prepared me well for my career.

Stephanie Busari

I joined the Training Centre as a Mirror Graduate Trainee and stayed at the paper for four years before moving on to take up a post as Deputy News Editor on a newly launched women's weekly magazine, First.

The teaching at the Newcastle Training Centre is first rate and the hands on experience you get during the course is invaluable.

We were lucky to get Mr Law himself, Walter Greenwood, coming in to coach us for our law exams and myself and other trainees have very fond emories of our time there. While on the course, you are assigned a patch to work on, which allows you to get out on the road and gain practical reporting skills, any stories found are published in the Newcastle Chronicle or Journal and sometimes in the Daily Mirror.

Above all the course was enormous fun and I have made lifelong friends, most of whom are working on national and local newspapers around the country.

Adam Parsons

Sports Correspondent, BBC News

During five months in Hastings, I picked up a whole host of skills I came to rely on - law, government, and how to get two lead stories and a follow-up feature out of pretty much anything that happens. And a decade and a half later, I'm still using my shorthand just about every day

Edmund Conway

Economics Editor,  The Daily Telegraph

I would recommend the course to any beginner in the world of journalism. My training at the Centre was a jump-start for my own career in the media. When at Hastings, I learnt all the key skills necessary for writing, editing and design, as well as excellent shorthand training. The course touched on almost all areas of reporting, lending me a flexibility which proved a real advantage once I returned to our newsroom.

Asha Tanna

Broadcast Journalist for BBC South East Today

Sylvia Bennett is a fantastic teacher and has the patience of a saint. Punctuality and accuracy. Two words which have been ingrained in my mind. The tutors run a very tight ship and you soon learn the value of being on time for deadlines and the importance of checking and re checking copy before submitting it. The course gave me a great insight into how the world of journalism runs. Although I have now left print and am working as a broadcast journalist the values I learnt eight years ago I still use today. I highly recommend this course.

Jon Grubb

Editor,  Lincolnshire Echo

The training I received at Hastings was absolutely crucial in helping me kick start and progress my career. Not only were the lessons extremely practical and skill based they were perfect preparation for life in the real world of newspapers.
The environment, the teaching staff and the course all combined to make it both highly enjoyable but intensely challenging. The difference between the centre and many of the other courses available – and it's a crucial difference – is that many of those teaching the new crop of journalists still work in the industry. It allows them to keep up with developments and respond to them.

Richard Edwards

Crime Reporter, Evening Standard

The Hastings course did more than teach the essential tools of the trade. The tutors had an infectious passion for newspapers and gave trainees the belief that journalists could make a difference.

tom wells

I was at the Newcastle training centre between September and December 2002, after landing a job with the Birmingham Post & Mail trainee scheme earlier that year.
I remember my four months in the company of David Banks and Paul Jones as actually being pretty hard work. The shorthand took a while to master, and the whole experience was very intense.
After leaving Newcastle, I was given a permanent job with Birmingham's Sunday tabloid, The Sunday Mercury, where I had a great two years. I've no doubt that Newcastle gave me the tools to succeed in Birmingham, where I landed some solid splashes and gained a great deal of useful experience.
I moved away from Birmingham in November 2005 to take up a job with Ferrari Press Agency. I am now working on The Sun. But even now – three years after Newcastle – I still find myself falling back on tips I'd picked up during the course. It was the best type of journalism training – practical, very professional, and great fun too.