Join these Zoom calls and masterclasses with media professionals to sharpen your journalistic skillset without having to fork out or leave your home
Stuck inside with little to do? If you are a journalism student or fresh graduate, why not jump on an online masterclass or Zoom call with a media professional? After all, in the wake of the third UK national lockdown, more journalists are giving up their time to host online classes free of charge.
Journalism.co.uk has compiled a few choice picks, speaking to some of the hosts about the inspiration behind the classes and how to join amid booming interest in the sessions.
A BBC journalist is hosting Zoom calls for journalism students this month who have had their university experienced disrupted by the pandemic.
Matt Graveling, senior journalist at BBC Six and Ten O’clock, is sharing tips and advice from his 15 years in the industry across three sessions, each an hour long.
"I realised I had a bit more spare time [during lockdown] that I wasn’t really using productively," he says.
"Seeing that university students and young people were not really getting the education they'd hoped they'd get, I just thought I can potentially kick-start a multiplier effect where I get people to sign up and do classes."
In each session, Graveling will be covering breaking news, story finding and storytelling. Each event is capped to 15 people as to keep the session interactive, but interest in the sessions has since exploded.
Due to the high demand, Graveling will try to re-run the sessions later in January for those who have missed out and is planning new ways to meet the level of need. Interested in joining? Contact him via Twitter to discuss availability.
🚨Aspiring Journos🚨Lockdown is rubbish - but I thought this may be fun? pic.twitter.com/pJ1CJrFg2e— Matt Graveling (@mattgraveling) January 5, 2021
🚨Aspiring Journos🚨Lockdown is rubbish - but I thought this may be fun? pic.twitter.com/pJ1CJrFg2e
Three free masterclasses are happening in January and February for beginner and intermediate level journalists.
These are organised by Helen Lewis, staff writer at the Atlantic and author of 'Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Flights' and will feature expert guests. After 670 people flocked to sign-up for the initial masterclass, Lewis decided to add two more classes. Dates as follows:
"One of the best parts of working in journalism is that other journalists are great company: smart, curious, provocative and insightful," Lewis says. "I also think it’s important to level the playing field as much as possible."
Sign-ups have been closed for the first session on long-form, however, Lewis is planning to record the sessions for those who cannot attend. There are still spaces for the other two sessions. Links to register can be found on the Twitter thread below and a link to join will be sent through email to join.
Tweet could not be found or could not be loaded.
A popular series of magazine journalism masterclasses are returning in January, both for those wanting to break into this industry and those wanting to sharpen up their skills.
Terri White, editor-in-chief of Empire magazine, has been holding her ‘Making Magazine Magic’ masterclasses since November. Past sessions have focused on art direction, beauty writing and entertainment journalism featuring an industry guest, including journalists, designers and editors at Empire Magazine, Grazia UK, The Week Junior and The Sunday Times. More than 3,000 people tuned in to the sessions since November.
"I’m just happy that people have found them useful and it’s reminded me that the journalism and magazine community is a really great community," says White.
"I couldn’t afford a journalism course after university and got in through a job as a personal assistant. A lot of those junior jobs don’t exist anymore so I came up with the idea of free magazine and journalism classes."
In January, masterclasses will explore fashion writing, magazine editing and reviews with more ideas on the format being considered. Details about the next sessions are still to be confirmed, but will be announced through White's Twitter account.
Did we miss any off? Send us your free and upcoming masterclasses and sessions on Twitter @journalismnews
If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).
Sign up to receive job alerts of your choice by email, or manage your subscription
Featured recruiter: click to view its vacancies
Investigative journalism publication seeks editor to lead reporting on AI, Big Tech and influence operations with experience in these areas and creative ideas about how to to report on them
Subscribe to our newsletter for latest news, tips, jobs and more
End that deadline stress today and find help in our freelance directory
Cargo Force stuns the world: free 10kg shipping to India in celebration of ICC Trophy victory – offer ongoing until Sunday, 16 March!
Our 35th Newsrewired conference will be held 13 May 2025, News UK, London.
Reporters who have worked under Putin, Erdogan and the Taliban share what they have learned about how autocrats consolidate power and how communities can fight back against the erosion of democratic freedom
Leaders from The Times, Sky News and Reuters reveal why chasing fewer but more engaged readers - and embracing AI as a creative tool rather than a threat - is proving more profitable than old-school mass reach strategies
A TikTok master with 100m views, a paywall pioneer with 3,000 subscribers, and a community visionary backed by local businesses share their strategies for making independent journalism pay beyond ads
Slovakia's Dennik N broke three years of subscriber stagnation with an innovative anniversary campaign, while The New Statesman transformed podcasts from a side project into a powerful growth engine – both offering valuable lessons for media companies hitting plateaus