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
March
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
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
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 London 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 joined us for a Q&A to talk through their exclusive stories
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
Really enjoyed this. So many great questions, covering imposter syndrome, moral dilemmas, AI, shorthand, newsroom atmospheres and more. There are some great journalists to watch coming out of his @NewsAssociates cohort. https://t.co/5Be8MWR1nv
— William Turvill (@wturvill) June 2, 2023
May
Tim Singleton, Sky News head of international news
Tim is one of our London course advisors and will be a regular visitor to the centre. 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, course advisor
Ronan is our Manchester course advisor and will be a regular visitor to the centre. 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.
@newsassociates_ Sky Sports News presenters Jo Wilson and Dharmesh Sheth share their number one piece of advice for getting into sports journalism🌟 #DharmeshSheth #JoWilson #SkySportsNews #TransferDay #BroadcastJournalism #SportsJournalism #NewsAssociates #myristorantecreation ♬ Canyons
March
Ian Ladyman, Daily Mail football editor
Gerard Brand, Sky Sports News output editor
News Associates graduate Gerard delivers live blogging masterclasses for our sports journalism trainees.
Karthi Gnanasegaram, freelance broadcaster
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester
Mhari Aurora, Sky News politics and business correspondent
Andrew Gamble, Reach US Sports journalist
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.
A massive thank you to @KarenNEdwards for joining us for a talk and Q&A 🤩
Karen shared her journey into journalism, how to pitch as a freelance journalist and her top tips! pic.twitter.com/LwZkQGoh64
— News Associates (@NewsAssociates) February 23, 2023
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
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November Doug Wills, Evening Standard editor emeritus Doug joins nearly every course in London 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
@newsassociates_ Daily Mail deputy chief sports writer Ian Herbert’s top tips for getting into sports journalism ⚽️🏈 #SportsJournalism #TopTips #News #PostgraduateJournalism #JournalismDegree #JournalismWorkshop #NCTJ #JournalismStudent ♬ ALMOST HOME
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
Thanks so much @vicderbyshire for taking the time to come and talk to us – it was such a helpful and insightful talk and a definite highlight of the course so far! https://t.co/rnrywW9q5Y
— Eve Bennett (@_evebennett) October 27, 2022
June
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.