Our Group Editorial Director has joined calls by news industry leaders for the Government to reverse planned cuts to journalism course funding in higher education.
Emily Woolfe, who oversees our news content, has backed the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) ‘Save Quality Journalism Education’ campaign, following new guidance from Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson directing the Office for Students (OfS) to withdraw Strategic Priorities Grant funding from journalism courses for the 2025-26 financial year.
Emily said she was backing the campaign because of the vital importance of journalism. Emily said: “I became a journalist to make a difference, and I’m proud that our titles at Tindle do just that. There needs to be a new generation of journalists and a generation after that and then one after that.
“We need to encourage more people to join the profession, to keep asking the questions which otherwise go unasked. We need more people trained to find the truth in a sea of social media, hints, suggestions, exaggerations and falsehoods.
“At this time in history, we need more protection for journalism and what it stands for, not less support for journalists.”
The NCTJ has joined four other journalism education bodies in issuing a joint statement of concern. The statement, co-signed by the Association for Journalism Education, the Broadcast Journalism Training Council, the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association and the Professional Publishers Association, warns the decision threatens the future of UK journalism.
Joanne Forbes, chief executive of the NCTJ, said: “Rather than narrowing the path into journalism, we should be widening it. These cuts risk reducing the accessibility, quality and diversity of journalism education, and threaten the future health of journalism in the UK.”
Reinstate support
The NCTJ has written directly to both the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, urging the government to reinstate support for journalism education.
The organisation representing news brands, the News Media Association, is behind the campaign. Our CEO Danny Cammiade is chairman of the NMA.
NMA chief executive Owen Meredith said: “At a time when we need trusted news and information more than ever, this misguided and irrational move risks undermining the pipeline of talent into the industry and restricting access to journalism as a career choice. The Education Secretary has got this one wrong and needs to think again.”
In a letter to the Office for Students, quoted by regional news industry title HoldTheFrontPage, Ms Phillipson wrote: “This government’s 2024 Industrial Strategy sets out the sectors that offer the highest growth opportunity for the economy and business.
“I am therefore setting out in the terms and conditions that your funding allocations should support provision of courses in these sectors, noting that a significant proportion of them currently attract SPG funding.
“Prioritising in this way does, however, involve making compromises elsewhere; for this reason, I am asking you to reprioritise high cost subject funding away from media studies, journalism, publishing and information services courses.
“While I recognise that these courses are valued by the universities that deliver them and the students that take them, my decision is informed by the challenging fiscal context we have inherited.”