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
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- 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
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
Investigative journalist and senior lecturer Amardeep Bassey spoke to our Manchester trainees about reporting on race and religion 👏
Thank you to the @RelMedCentre for organising this!#TeamNA #StartedHere pic.twitter.com/p2rpgNB9eZ
— News Associates (@NewsAssociates) March 3, 2025
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
Three former trainees spoke to our part-time group on Saturday about juggling work with studying towards their NCTJ diplomas ✨ It was great to welcome back Greta Simpson, Lisa Valentine and Aisha Sembhi 🙌#TeamNA #StartedHere pic.twitter.com/PYQ7SeTG14 — News Associates (@NewsAssociates) November 11, 2024
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
The Athletic staff editor Richard Amofa spoke to our sports journalism trainees about succeeding as a sports journalist and developing your universal selling point in the industry 📰⚽#TeamNA #StartedHere pic.twitter.com/CefB8RNAQr
— News Associates (@NewsAssociates) October 26, 2024
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
News Associates graduates Maya Dhillon and Ollie Lewis answered questions and spoke to our fast-track trainees about their careers and experiences on the course ✨#TeamNA #StartedHere pic.twitter.com/NuMEgk0zW2 — News Associates (@NewsAssociates) September 10, 2024
August
Lauren Probert, freelance journalist
Jem Collins, Journo Resources founder
Carla Rosch, BBC News journalist
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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
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.