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NCTJ launches new sports journalism qualification

Posted: 18/01/08 By: Amy Rolfe
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The National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) has launched a new qualification in sports journalism.

The preliminary certificate in sports journalism, piloted in November last year by students at Sportsbeat, the University of Brighton and the University of Staffordshire, is offered as an optional extra for trainee reporters and trainee sub-editors studying for a core NCTJ journalism qualification.

The course, which consists of six modules and two exams, will cover attending press conferences, sub-editing for sports and the sports news cycle.

"Sports journalism has been crying out for this sort of course and examination for a long while - there is food for thought whether this should be offered as a post-NCE course," said Dave King, editor of the Swindon Advertiser and chief examiner for the new course.

"The course is going to produce a new breed of journalists who understand what sports journalism is all about, equipping them with the necessary skills. This has to be the way forward to boost the standards of sports journalism in our industry."