Two CfJ graduates, Kathryn Cain and James Averill, already work for LSN Media. Now the company is looking to recruit new staff. Qualified canddiates are encouraged to apply. The bare facts are as follows:

LSN Media, a division of Local World, is looking for three ambitious, motivated and talented trainee reporters to join its multi-media newsrooms in Milton Keynes, Bedford and Northampton.

An all-rounder with an eye for a story, you will be expected to produce lively, engaging and accurate content for our newspapers, websites and social media.

You will relish reporting on a range of topics, have a knack for looking beyond the press release and bringing in off-diary stories and enjoy making and maintaining contacts in the community.

You will also have completed your NCTJ preliminary exams or equivalent and have a current full driving licence and access to a car.

Read the full details here

Dean Kilpatrick, who graduated from last year’s BA course, was highly commended in the W.F. Deedes Young Journalist of the Year category of the Kent Media Awards last Friday.   

Judges praised his Kent on Sunday articles and said that competition for the young journalist category was particularly fierce.

Please note that because of Friday's Newsday, the usual Friday NCTJ law session will now be on THURSDAY JAN 31ST FROM 1100 - 1300 IN ROOM G4-03. This is for all Year 2s who are taking Court Reporting. As most of you had an exam last Friday, this will be the first session of your new syllabus so it's really important that you attend.

Another first for the Centre for Journalism. The January and February issues of Military History magazine contain a two-part feature by Melanie Wimmer, who graduated last year from the BA programme.

The feature, headlined 'Grandpa was not a Nazi', looks at the testimonies of some of the last remaining living witnesses of the German generation that grew up under Hitler and was Melanie's Third Year project in the final year of her degree.

All third year students are briefed that their project should be fit for publication in a real journalism outlet - magazine, newspaper, TV or radio documentary, or online publication. As Melanie has proved, the best of them genuinely are.

The Kent Messenger is advertising a vacancy for a trainee reporter at its Maidstone office on Hold The Front Page - closing date February 4.

Requirements are 100wpm shorthand and NCTJ preliminary qualifications. This would be an ideal first job for any graduates (or soon-to-be graduates) from the Centre.

It is also, of course, my old patch. Anyone with any questions about it can grab me for a chat.

Kathryn Cain graduated from the Centre in June 2011 with an excellent BA and a full set of passes in her NCTJ exams - including Court Reporting and 120 wpm shorthand. She is now a reporter with Bedfordshire on Sunday and Bedford Midweek. In the main undergraduate newsroom on Wednesday 30 Jan. at 1pm, Kat will talk about her job and answer any questions about how to make sure you get one too. Please come. These sessions are invaluable to all who aspire to success in journalism.

The combined print news day for years one and two will be held on Friday, February 1.

You will be creating a 20 page evening newspaper in the style of the Daily Mail. It is a regional paper, with an eye on national and international news. Deadline is 5pm.

Editors will be Ian and myself, although some of you will be called upon to deputise. Roles will be sorted out at each team's first conference next week.

So, without further ado, here are the teams...

Earlier today, the motoring journalist Mark Hales was found by a court to be liable for the damage done to the engine of a Porsche 917 he was driving for a magazine feature.

I know not enough of the case to enter the specifics, but the key question was this: Did the engine blow because the experienced Hales was driving (i.e. he missed a gear), or did it blow simply while he was behind the wheel (i.e. an unavoidable mechanical failure)? The court held it was the former, and he is now facing a six-figure bill for repairs.

There' s a £250 top prize up for grabs in the University's Creative Campus photography competition. It's open to all Medway staff and students, and requires entrants to take a picture on the campus that will "capture aspects of student life or the hidden beauty in exposing peculiar elements of its natural and built environment".

Submission Requirements:

Amid blanket coverage of Prince Harry, a.k.a. Captain Wales a.k.a the Killer Prince, nothing has amused and pleased me more than Hadley Freeman's column for the Guardian. Yes, I know Prince Harry hates journalists for revealing his antics when he is being "more army than prince". Granted, his earnest desire for a timid and obedient press does more to promote the value of raucous free speech than he might imagine. But never mind; the best way for honest republicans to dilute reverence for the royal family is to make fun of them. Thank you, Hadley - and not for the first time.