George Viner scholarships


Britain make up six per cent of the total population. This gross under-representation makes a mockery of Britain as a multi-cultural society.” Boumelha said: “We don’t even know if the statistics that we started with were correct. But, when Beulah Ainley wrote that book, it was at the time a revolution.” Introducing herself as an Asian woman who ticks some


diversity boxes but not others, one of the guest speakers, Sonia Sodha, The Observer’s chief leader writer, praised the scheme but added there was much more to be done. “Diversity is a really complex issue. It’s not just about the


visible characteristics,” she said. “When you look at headline statistics for the proportion of BAME journalists, what they don’t tell you about is class background. I think that’s really, really critical actually.


“Because, for me if I’m honest, even though I have faced


barriers, the fact that I am middle class, the fact that I went to Oxford, mean that I have similar cultural points of reference to white journalists. It means I talk with a similar accent to other journalists. I’ve had a similar education, and actually that makes it much easier to overcome some of the race and gender barriers than it does for BAME journalists from a working-class background.” Boumelha admits that sometimes people who do come from middle-class backgrounds, with life chances that already put them at an advantage, apply for the fund. “Sometimes we have people that are from Oxford and


Cambridge coming in,” explains Boumelha. “Therefore, you have this dilemma that these people have got the better chances and don’t even need our help. They can go straight into jobs with the main media, because that’s what the main media seem to go for. On the one hand, they’re strong and they will make it, on the other hand is it fair for them to compete with other people who have had a different life travel and perhaps are less strong? So, this is the kind of dilemma we grapple with. But we look out for whenever


“ ”


Award winners at the 30th anniversary event: Precious Adesina, Natasha Onwuemezi, Sharon Thiruchelvam and Yinka Oyetade


there’s an underdog, that person who didn’t have much luck until now and maybe they need that little push to do it.” It is this that makes the GVMF so special. Its criteria for


We look out for an underdog, a person who didn’t have much luck until now and maybe they need that little push to do it


BAME students to apply is simple to encompass the complexity of diversity. “You have to seek out, during the interview, something more than the qualification,” Jim continues. “The board is usually very scrupulous in the interview to be as fair as possible, so they ask the same questions of every single interviewee. And, out of the questions, they will try to get a picture of the ability of that person, which is very important as to whether they can make it and if they have everything they need to have the best chance but also what is a little bit behind [their ambition].” Jim added: “[The GVMF is] a very, very important endeavour of the NUJ. It’s been one of the most important initiatives for the union over the past 30 years and it is producing results.” We can turn to Ben Hunte, a 2016-17 scholar, who was announced as the BBC’s first LGBT correspondent in December 2018 as an example of such results. Explaining how he felt at receiving a GVMF award, Ben said:


“It was amazing. So, so amazing. It was wonderful … Before George Viner, I found it impossible to break into journalism because I felt like I was being judged on the way I looked and the way I sounded. I wasn’t as polished as other students who come in to the industry. [My GVMF interview] was one of the only opportunities that was like a make-or-break situation. If I succeeded, I knew that I could go down this route and my life would change for the better.” What would George Viner make of the long-standing success of such an important awards scheme set up in his name to honour his passion for the education and training of journalists? His daughter Carol Plaster, who continues the family’s


involvement with the trust, said: “He was always interested in multicultural matters. He would be really chuffed.”


theJournalist | 11


PIERRE ALOZIE


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28