Guest speaker series

At The School of Journalism your journalism studies are complemented by a whole host of guest speakers with a wealth of experience from across the industry. These vary course to course and are often related to the biggest news stories of the moment. Our speakers deliver sessions, run news conferences, host Q&As and much more! Here is a selection of our recent guest speakers and some of the advice they shared…

2025

April

Conor Wilson, Daily Express reporter, David Averre, Daily Mail chief foreign reporter and Cyann Fielding, The Sun travel news reporter

Ollie Lewis, Sky News interviews producer

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by News Associates (@newsassociates)

  • March
  • Dave Woods, Sky Sports and former BBC commentator
  • Abigail Rabbett, London World editor
  • Miriam Walker-Khan, Sky Sports News diversity and inclusion reporter
  • James Gray, sports news correspondent at The I Paper
  • Tim Singleton, head of international news at Sky News

 

February

  • Sian Elvin, The Independent news editor
  • Ayaat Yassin-Kassab, MailOnline reporter, Madeline Sharratt, US reporter for The Independent, Amelia Stout, freelance reporter and assistant producer Tom Earnshaw, LadBible trends and SEO editor
  • Sonny Jacobs, senior reporter for That’s TV
  • Hope Gallagher, engagement producer at Manchester Evening News
  • Hannah Robinson, Kennedy news reporter
  • Oliver Jervis, trainee sub-editor at Daily Mail
  • Stephanie Nourse, output producer at Sky News
  • Perkin Amalaraj, Daily Mail foreign news reporter  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  A post shared by News Associates (@newsassociates)

 

January

Amardeep Bassey, freelance reporter and lecturer at De Montfort University

Rizwana Hamid, director of the centre of media monitoring

Sophie Elsworthy & Justin Williams, Insight X co-CEOs

Rachel Blundy, AFP deputy head of digital investigation

Craig Chisnall, The Athletic development director

Sarah Lester, Manchester Evening News editor

  2024 December Karen Edwards, freelance travel, lifestyle and entertainment journalist Alice Reeves-Turner, Sky Sports assistant producer Jack Zorab, freelance sports commentator Aisha Sembhi, BBC video journalist Alex Corns, freelance radio journalist November Stephen Wright, Daily Mail associate editor (investigations) Sam Blitz, Sky Sports football journalist Matt Lawton, The Times chief sports correspondent Ian Ladyman, Daily Mail football editor Nesta McGregor, BBC Sport news journalist Christopher Reidy, Sky Sports News reporter Ronan Hughes, Sky News head of TV output Lisa Valentine, Bury Times digital reporter, Greta Simpson, Manchester Evening News community reporter and Aisha Sembhi, BBC Sport digital video journalist

October

Jessica Sharkey, The Times news reporter

Annie Gouk, Reach data investigations editor

Constance Kampfner, The Times northern correspondent

Alina Khan, FT Adviser senior reporter, Zoë Crowther, PoliticsHome political reporter and Soraya Aslam, Good Morning Britain producer

David Keane, Kennedy News and Media

Poppy Lindsey, Global Radio broadcast journalist

Richard Amofa, The Athletic staff editor

  September Ian Brunskill, The Times associate editor Mat Kendrick, Reach head of regional sport Richard Duggan, Newsquest north west regional editor Tulsen Tollett, BBC World tv & radio sports presenter Charlie Bennett, Sportsbeat executive editor, Tom Harle, Sportsbeat Olympics editor, and Megan Armitage, Sportsbeat multimedia journalist Ben McCrum, SPORTbible junior sports journalist Sophie Alexander, Sky News foreign news producer, and Adele-Momoko Fraser, Sky News international news editor Ethan Davies, Manchester Evening News Local Democracy Reporter, Ella Wilcox, Warrington Guardian trainee multimedia journalist, and Hannah Robinson, Kennedy News and Media reporter Maya Dhillon, Pulse features assistant, and Ollie Lewis, Sky News interview producer Oli Gent, The Sunday Times & TNT Sports freelance sports journalist Tim Singleton, Sky News head of international news

 

August

Lauren Probert, freelance journalist

Jem Collins, Journo Resources founder

Carla Rosch, BBC News journalist

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by News Associates (@newsassociates)

  July

Isabelle Casey, HELLO! Magazine online writer

Hannah Lovejoy, Greatest Hits Radio digital editor June Charlotte Livia Hall, Manchester Evening News local democracy reporter Kumail Jaffer, Daily Mail political correspondent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  A post shared by News Associates (@newsassociates)

 

 

May

Alice Gould, IPSO head of complaints, John Davidson, IPSO head of communications, and Elena Richards Coldicutt, IPSO engagement officer

Jane Bruccoleri-Aitchison, University Hospitals Dorset senior communications manager

Pete Grant, Newsquest digital content, social and audience manager

Rizwana Hamid, Centre for Media Monitoring director

April

Adonis Pratsides, The Sports Agents executive producer

Steve Forbes, talkSPORT sports news reader

Vanessa Brown, Financial Times world news digital editor

Ben Snowball, Eurosport and TNT Sports senior digital editor

Jayne Pearce and Andrew McMenamin, Pearce International
Friends of News Associates Jayne and Andrew deliver regular workshops on crisis communications for our sports journalism trainees.

February

Asyia Iftikhar, Former PinkNews entertainment reporter, Tilly Pearce, Former Daily Express deputy TV and showbiz editor and Joy, Bauer Media entertainment reporter and content producer

Hannah Robinson, Kennedy News and Media reporter and Ethan Davies Manchester Evening News local democracy reporter Freya Gascoigne, Sky News news desk editor and Kristina Wemyss, Daily Mail trainee sub-editor

Svitlana Morenets, The Spectator staff writer

January

David Keane, Kennedy News & Media editor

Jem Collins, JournoResources founder

Paul Hudson, Daily Mail
Paul delivered a session on column writing

Ian Chadband, AAP sports journalist

Tum Balogun, MailOnline sports reporter, Fadumo Olow, Sky Sports News reporter, Alasdair Hooper, Formula 1 duty editor and Ben Parsons, bunkered content producer

2023

December

Craig Chisnall, The Athletic development editor

Paul Hudson, Daily Mail

November

Susie Rushton, The Telegraph Magazine deputy editor
Susie shared invaluable advice with our third year trainees who were completing their magazine journalism project

Sarah Lester, Manchester Evening News editor

Alya Zayed, MyLondon executive editor and Unzela Khan, MyLondon race and diversity editor

October

Mary Isokariari, BBC freelance senior journalist and social media journalist
Mary delivers regular social media masterclasses for our trainees.

Kamal Ahmed, The News Movement co-founder and editor-in-chief

Claire Rowden, MTV Movies social producer, Neha Gohil, The News Movement correspondent, Helen Thomas, VICE senior social editor and Stefan Frost, Sportsbeat social media executive

Matt Lawton, The Times chief sports correspondent

Zoe Crowther, PoliticsHome social media journalist

September

Tim Singleton, Sky News head of international news
Tim is one of our course advisors and will be a regular visitor to the centre. In September, he spoke about his career, how breaking stories develop and shared tips on how to network.

Adam Wareing, Kennedy News & Media

James Holt, Manchester Evening News senior reporter

Abi Curran, Sportsbeat multimedia reporter

Claudia Savage, PA Media reporter

Molly Pavord, Splash News reporter

Eve Bennett, Sky News TV producer

August

Derek Brown, News UK executive creative director

Aaliyah Harry, Grazia news and entertainment writer and Isabelle Casey, HELLO! magazine online junior writer

July

Paul Hudson, Daily Mail
Paul delivers regular sessions to our trainees on column writing

June

Charlotte Dewar, IPSO chief executive

Natasha Livingstone, The Mail on Sunday news reporter

Jonathan Harding, Racing Post reporter and Oliver Murphy, Metro freelance journalist

Geri Scott, The Times political reporter

Aubrey Allegretti, The Guardian political correspondent

William Turvill, Press Gazette associate editor and New Statesman media editor

Charlotte Dewar, IPSO chief executive

May

Tim Singleton, Sky News head of international news
In May, he spoke about his journey from print to broadcast journalism and reviewed our trainees’ news bulletins.

Matthew Dickens, director and photographer at business-portraits.co.uk and imagecomms.com
Matthew delivers a masterclass in photography on our NCTJ courses and summer school. 

April

Jonathan Liew, The Guardian sports writer
Jonathan Zoomed into our Manchester classroom and shared advice on colour writing and gave our trainees feedback on their features.

Ronan Hughes, Sky News head of output
In April, he ran a TV production workshop and reviewed our trainees’ video packages.

Inzamam Rashid, Sky News correspondent

Dharmesh Sheth, Sky Sports News presenter

Jo Wilson, Sky Sports News presenter

Jayne Pearce and Andrew McMenamin, Pearce International Friends of News Associates Jayne and Andrew regular deliver workshops on crisis communications for our sports journalism trainees.

February

Ian Brunskill and trainee journalists Yennah Smart and Max Kendix joined our fast-track trainees for news conferences across our four Londoner sites.

Karen Edwards, travel, lifestyle and entertainment freelance journalist. Click here to see what we learnt from this talk.

January

Dave Woods, BBC rugby league correspondent
Dave hosted a practical masterclass on commentary for our sports journalism trainees in Manchester.

James Gray, iPaper sports news correspondent

Ian Chadband AAP sports journalist
Ian visits once a year to guide our sports journalism trainees through their Australian Open coverage!

Neha Gohil, The News Movement correspondent

Emily Coady-Stemp, Local Democracy Reporter

James Walker, MyLondon assistant editor

**We also run our annual journalism conference JournoFest exclusive to News Associates and School of Journalism trainees every year. Click here for an overview of all of the advice from seven years worth of amazing speakers, panels and networking.**

2022

December

Jem Collins, Journo Resources founder
Friend of News Associates Jem Collins regularly visits to run sessions on freelance journalism and pitching.

Tom Barclay, The Sun senior football writer

November

Doug Wills, Evening Standard editor
Doug joins nearly every course to run mock news conferences for a super practical day-long exercise.

Tom Earnshaw, content editor LancsLive

Alex James, XS Manchester Breakfast Presenter

Ian Herbert, Daily Mail deputy chief sportswriter

October

Victoria Derbyshire, BBC broadcast journalist Click here to see what we learnt from this talk. 

Justin Menhenett, Solent News Agency editor

Tulsen Tollett, BBC News broadcaster

Rizwana Hamid, Centre for Media Monitoring director

Martin Lipton, The Sun chief sports reporter

Julie Etchingham, presenter and reporter for ITV News at Ten, ITV Tonight & Exposure

May

Joe Wallen, Telegraph south Asia correspondent

We regularly host free masterclasses, workshops and Q&As – sign up here.