Support young journalists through Covid-19

PressPad is an award-winning social enterprise on a mission to make entry into the exciting world of journalism more accessible than ever.

The Challenge

With diversity a more pertinent and important topic than ever we are proud to play a part in supporting the aspiring journalists of tomorrow hack into a historically competitive industry, overcoming barriers such as; sex, gender, ethnicity, disability and financial constraints.

In a pre-COVID world we successfully linked young people with work experience placements in London, supported by experienced journalists who offered a spare room plus great advice, support and mentorship.

When the pandemic hit, we had to embrace the new normal and overcome further challenges that were impossible to anticipate;

• 61% of employers had to cancel internships as a result of the pandemic.
• Newsrooms closed their doors and working from home became the norm rather than an exception further limiting opportunities.
• Mass redundancies and hire freezes were implemented by many as a result of losses in ad revenue.

Our Covid-response programme 

Our committed team rose to the challenges, adapted our model and diversified our support with the launch of #PressPadRemote, delivering unprecedented results which included; 

• 11 masterclasses on a wide range of topics from imposter syndrome to mobile journalism.
• 118 CV/Pitch clinics hosted by our founders.
• 14 live Instagram Q&A’s with rising stars in journalism.
• 4 speed mentoring events held remotely on Zoom connecting the aspirational with the accomplished.

A huge benefit in a challenging time was being able to widen our reach, grow our network and make support more accessible than ever.

By the end of the first lockdown we were proud to have supported in excess of 7,800 young people at a time when, for many, hopes were fading. 

Attendees provided overwhelmingly positive feedback and many went on to get commissions and even jobs, crediting PressPad with helping them;

• Qais Hussain – Student from Bradford found our support “indispensable” he learned a number of new skills resulting in him connecting with and writing for his “dream publications”.
• Sophie Kiderlin - Freelance journalist found the remote sessions “incredibly valuable” leaving her both ‘inspired and motivated”, she expanded her knowledge and network while receiving “a lot of great advice”.
• Georgina Truss wrote to our founder on Linkedin -  “Just wanted to drop a message to say Thank you! I had a CV clinic with yourself a few months ago...then I got my first ever interview and I got a job from that first interview!”
• #PressPadRemote Masterclass attendees via twitter wrote -  “Thanks for being there through these frustrating times @PressPadUK - More of this” and “Just attended the loveliest free journalism careers session on zoom, thank you so much @PressPadUK, it was so refreshing to get advice from someone who seems to really understand what it's like to be a student."

The additional services provided by #PressPadRemote and the huge success of Season 1 have consolidated our purpose and mission to remove financial and geographical barriers of entry to the media professions and show the long-term need for PressPad.

Don’t just take our word for it 

In addition to supporting over 7,800 people in a 3.5 month period this year we have won numerous awards, amassed a huge following online with almost 12,000 followers on Twitter and an ever growing audience across other social platforms, built partnerships with esteemed brands including PinkNews, Cision and The Financial Times, and received widespread acclaim from industry leaders;

• "This is a very good idea indeed." Laura Kuenssberg, BBC's political editor 
• "Disappointingly, journalism is falling behind other bastions of elitism such as law and banking, which are doing more to redress glaring inequalities. This despite the fact that the skills needed – an eye for a story and tenacity – can be found in any age, race, gender, class or background. This makes innovations like PressPad, which aims to link hosts offering accommodation to wannabe journalists, so important." Jane Martinson, Guardian columnist
• “I've just found out about @PressPadUK - something I could not believe in or want to support more. Had my parents not lived in London, I wouldn't have been able to do nine months of unpaid journalism internships after graduating. This can't be the only option for young writers -” Dolly H Alderton - author, journalist and podcast host
• "PressPad provides a practical solution to a problem that distorts our media. Affordable accommodation enables working-class, refugee and less privileged people to get a start as journalists, so newsrooms will be less dominated by the wealthy and well-connected." Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News international editor
• “It’s an incredibly impressive initiative” Amol Rajan, BBC's media editor & presenter of Radio 4’s The Media Show

But perhaps most importantly we’ve identified a healthy appetite for us to build on our good work to date offering online support to those that need it until work experiences return and the economy recovers.

What’s next for PressPad?

We have been hugely successful in supporting young journalists and connecting them to leading journalism professionals who are willing to mentor and provide pass on their knowledge. In order to continue this important work to provide this support for free to those who need it in an increasingly challenging climate, we need your support.

We have ambitious plans for 2021 that will see us return - as soon as Covid allows - to hosting, via our marketplace platform which we built during lockdown using the funds raised from our #DiversifytheMedia fundraising,  but we also intend to leave no young journalist behind and launch the highly anticipated second season of #PressPadRemote. 

We're asking the same young people who benefitted from Season 1 to decide what is most important for them while designing the new programme. We want to make sure that we’re only spending our supporters’ money on what young journalists really need. 

Funds raised will facilitate the costs of the first four months of activities, providing, at a minimum:

#PressPadRemote Season 2 will supercharge our original mission, continue where Season 1 left off in a bigger, bolder, more accessible way, reaching people that need it more than ever. 

Highlights include: exclusive 1-2-1 career clinics, bi-weekly peer networking and mental health check in sessions, early-career webinars, pitching workshops with commissioning editors, off-the-record, quick-fire social Q&As with inspiring mid-career journalists and networking events.  

With your help #PressPadRemote can continue to inspire hope in the journalists of tomorrow and remove financial and geographical barriers by providing motivation, community, training, mentorship, and professional and personal connections. 

We want to support a diverse media network without barriers that truly reflects the demographic and economic diversity within our communities. And we know you want to do that too. 

How can you support us?

Your financial donation is vital to our mission and is gratefully received and hugely appreciated by both PressPad and those we support.

As well as feeling great about supporting our cause you can enjoy a number of rewards as a token of our appreciation, just check out the right hand side of this page. 

We are an ambitious social enterprise and a little of your support will mean a lot to us and even more to those from disadvantaged backgrounds, please DONATE TODAY.

 You can request more information or even book a call with our team to discuss further, just follow this link. 

Thank you

The PressPad team.

"PressPad is such an amazing scheme and I feel honoured to be a part of it. It has made me feel like my dreams are achievable and no longer out of reach. I feel like someone is finally on my side."

PressPad Intern