The House Magazine and Openreach Announce Political Journalism Fellowship
2 min read
The House magazine, in partnership with broadband provider Openreach, will be running a paid political journalism fellowship this Summer.
The announcement follows the success of a pilot scheme which took place in 2021, and which was enabled through the support of Labour MP for Hackney and Public Accounts Committee Chair Meg Hillier.
Bahar Dag, a student from Haggerston school in Hackney, enjoyed a four-week stint on the magazine last year, where she was given lessons by the team in news writing, media law, investigative journalism, policy formation, social media and video journalism and more. She also spent time at an MP’s constituency surgery, watched a select committee hearing, met a select committee chair, and was taken on a ‘top secret’ trip with a reporter to meet sources.
Dag, who went on to Southampton University to study law, said: “This [opportunity] has been amazing, it allowed me to have a greater understanding of journalism and how interesting it really is...I even got to interview Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the Commons!”
The successful applicant will also get the opportunity to spend some time at Openreach to get an understanding of policy and politics from a different perspective.
Alan White, editor-in-chief of The House, said: “Improving access to journalism is something I feel passionately about, and I’m absolutely delighted that we’ve announced this scheme. I’m extremely grateful to Openreach for their generous support.
He added: “I also want to give my sincere thanks to Meg Hillier MP, without whose efforts this scheme would never have got off the ground. She and her office have been beyond generous with their time.”
Michael Salter-Church MBE, Director of External Affairs, Policy & Sustainability at Openreach said: “Openreach is delighted to support this scheme as scrutiny by the media is a vital component in good policy making and democracy. Through spending time with Openreach the budding journalist will be able to understand the ramifications of political decisions on our business and we’ll provide a different perspective on what they learn in Westminster.”
To apply, please click here.
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