University partners with media regulator Impress on ethical journalism training
Members of Impress with journalism staff at the University, from left, KTP Associate Beth Parkes, Impress Director of Business Development Gia Thom, Subject Area Lead for Media Journalism, Film and Drama Jenny Gibson, Impress CEO Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana, and KTP Supervisor Ruth Stoker (Image: University of Huddersfield)
The University of Huddersfield is partnering with media regulator Impress to develop training in ethical journalism for people working in print and online media industries.
Impress CEO Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana met journalism and media students at the University as part of a national research and development programme in ethical journalism education.
The University is working with Impress through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme. Dr Ruth Stoker, KTP Supervisor for the project, invited colleagues from Impress to visit Huddersfield as part of the research phase of the development programme, where the team were able to meet publishers from the North to talk about what the training could look like.
Dr Stoker said: “We know that there is a gap in journalism training, with very little available to people working in industry which addresses the ethical challenges journalists need to consider. Our project brings together Impress’ expertise in ethical journalism and our understanding of how to teach journalism, in particular in online environments, to build a new training programme which we hope will be useful to those working in the sector.
“At the moment the KTP team is visiting journalists around the UK to talk about journalism ethics and what a training programme might look like. We have already met with journalists in Glasgow, Bristol and London, and hosting an event in Huddersfield was an opportunity to reach out to Impress members in Northern England.”
Discover more about studying journalism at Huddersfield
Impress, the Independent Monitor of the Press, is a recognised regulatory body for new publishers in the UK, and as part of the research visit to Huddersfield, Ms Kirkconnell-Kawana joined journalism and media students in a seminar which looked at regulation and ethics.
She said: “Impress was thrilled to visit Huddersfield University to advance our KTP partnership, meet with students and explore the topics of ethics, law and regulation with them. The quality of journalism education Huddersfield students are receiving was apparent, not just in the state-of-the-art facilities and resources available, but in their thoughtful responses on how the news industry context and public trust impacts on journalism ethics.”