Tag Archives: Periodical Training Council

Property Week journalist takes top prize at PTC New Talent Awards

Nick Johnstone of UBM title Property Week has claimed the top award at the Periodicals Training Council’s inaugural New Talent Awards.

Johnstone was handed the grand prix 2012 at a ceremony in London last night (February 1).

He was also named new business features journalist of the year.

This year the PTC changed its award scheme, expanding “to reflect the range of roles across the publishing sector”, it explained in a release.

The awards recognised the “most promising student journalists of the year”, with the undergraduate title going to Stacey Bartlett from the University of Central Lancashire and Rakesh Ramchurn from City University named in the postgraduate category.

Immediate Media Co, the company formed in October from the amalgamation of BBC Magazines, Origin Publishing and Magicalia, was the biggest winner on the night, taking home three awards.

Winners of the PTC New Talent Awards 2012

  • Grand Prix 2012: Nick Johnstone, Property Week, United Business Media
  • New Publisher of the Year: Martin Stahel, Immediate Media Co.
  • New Ad Manager of the Year: Ossie Bayram, Hearst Magazines UK
  • New Business News Journalist of the Year: Carl Brown, Inside Housing, Ocean Media Group
  • New Business Features Journalist of the Year: Nick Johnstone, Property Week, United Business Media
  • New Editor of the Year: Tom Cullen, ShortList Media
  • New Consumer Specialist/Customer Journalist of the Year: Louise Ridley, Immediate Media Co.
  • New Designer of the Year: Elliott Web, Q Magazine, Bauer Media
  • New Consumer Journalist of the Year: Amy Grier, ShortList Media
  • New Sales Executive of the Year: Courtney Maggs-Jones, JLD Media
  • New Classified Sales Executive of the Year: Sereena Gill, IPC Media
  • New Section Editor of the Year: Zoe Smeaton, Chemist+Druggist, UBM Medica
  • New Marketing Executive of the Year: Caroline Motson, Immediate Media Co
  • New Direct Marketing Executive of the Year: Elizabeth Telford, Newsquest Special Media
  • Most Promising Student Journalist of the Year (Undergraduate): Stacey Bartlett, the University of Central Lancashire
  • Most Promising Student Journalist of the Year (Postgraduate): Rakesh Ramchurn, City University, London

Skillset’s report digested: Is there a skills gap amongst new journalism recruits?

As reported yesterday, Skillset, the training and skills organisation for creative industries, has released a new report suggesting a critical skills gap in new journalism recruits to the newspaper and magazine industries. The new report is a culmination of year-long research and suggests the gap has been exposed by the advancement of digital technology in the sectors.

Some key reactions and findings of the research are rounded up below:

  • Skillset commented in the Guardian that traditional skills are ‘becoming even more important so that customers are prepared to pay for high quality content’.
  • The latest multimedia and technical skills are critical to freelancers in the current environment, the report suggested.
  • The general message from the report is that journalists need to adapt to the huge impact that the recession and technological change have had on the publishing industry. A spokesperson from Skillset spoke to Journalism.co.uk about the importance of applying core skills such as editing and interviewing to new technical skills. Skillset also place an emphasis on creativity and the importance of flexiblity.
  • An additional survey previously published by the body,  the Convergence Journalism Skills survey, discusses how in the future the merging worlds of print, radio, TV and online will require journalists to be confident working across these different platforms.
  • Skillset’s executive director of policy and development, Kate O’Connor, quoted in Guardian, said training can be one of the first things neglected in difficult financial times.  O’Connor underlined the importance of investing in the future. She also pointed out how vital it is for journalists to learn these new digital skills ‘if the industry is to survive and thrive’.
  • Loraine Davies, director of the Periodical Training Council, told Journalism.co.uk ‘that graduates from the 14 PTC accredited journalism courses have all the skills they need to make a meaningful contribution to the brand from the outset’.
  • But Davies recognised that students key skills are not at the expected level when they begin their courses. The solution? ”More must be done earlier in the education process to ensure students have grasped the basics.”

There appears to be a consensus among professionals that skills training needs to be revised in order for journalists to compete and succeed in this developing media industry. One of the key messages to journalists in the Skillset report was not only to fine tune their core and technological skills, but to be flexible and adapt well to change.

As Gail Rebuck, Skillset board member, told the Guardian: “It is important that the industry understands and moves with the market so the skills gap this report has identified does not continue to grow.”

Related: The National Council for the Training of Journalists’ (NCTJ) skills survey from November last year.

PTC New Journalist Awards 2008: And the winners are…

Reed Business Information’s (RBI) Tom Vaughan was a double winner at today’s Periodical Training Council’s (PTC) New Journalist of the Year awards.

Vaughan, who writes for Caterer and Hotelkeeper, picked up the overall award and new business features journalist too. Unfortunately (or fortunately for him) he was in absent – busy holidaying in Switzerland – and had the awards collected on his behalf.

The awards, which focus on new or young journalists in the UK magazine industry, also saw prizes for Jheni Osman, editor of Focus from BBC Magazines, who was named new editor of the year.

Full list of the winners:

Overall winner – Tom Vaughan, Caterer and Hotelkeeper, RBI

New editor of the year – Jheni Osman, Focus, BBC Magazine; (highly commended) Lucy Scott, Property Week, CMP Information

New section editor of the year – Emma Dent, Health Service Journal, EMAP Inform; (highly commended) Tom Bill, Building, CMP Information

New consumer journalist of the year – Josh Woodfin, FHM, Bauer Media; (highly commended) Jo Adnitt, Look, IPC Media

New consumer specialist/customer magazine journalist of the year – Ben Brain, Photoplus, Future Publishing

New magazine designer of the year – Tina Smith, Property Week, CMP Information; (highly commended) Luke O’Neill, Computer Arts, Future Publishing

New business journalist of the year – Crispin Dowler, Inside Housing, Ocean Media Group; (highly commended) Victoria Gill, Chemistry World, Royal Society of Chemistry

New business features journalist of the year – Tom Vaughan, Caterer and Hotelkeeper, RBI; (highly commended) Lydia Stockdale, Property Week, CMP Information

Most promising student journalist of the year: Audrey Ward, MA magazine journalism, City University; (highly commended) Alix O’Neill, MA magazine, Goldsmiths