WiJ are delighted to present our latest event on investigative journalism, chaired by Prof Jane Martinson, journalist, academic and author of You May Never See Us Again about the Barclay family.

Sponsored by Pepsico and TSB the event will include network opportunities with fellow journalists, and businesses – with wine, drinks and refreshments served.

Featuring a brilliant guest panel:

Madison Marriage - FT special investigations editor. Madison leads a team of reporters investigating misconduct and abuse of power across business, politics, housing, education and beyond. Since joining the FT 12 years ago she has held a number of correspondent positions covering asset management, tax and accounting. She joined the investigations desk in 2019 after delivering two award-winning investigations into sexual harassment at the elite Presidents Club charity dinner and the defenestration of advertising mogul Sir Martin Sorrell.

Imogen Barrer is a multi-award winning journalist and the Head of Investigations & Special Projects at ITV News. 

Her investigations into Partygate, Britain's social housing scandal, and the UK's hidden homelessness crisis won 6 Royal Television Society TV Journalism Awards across 2022, 2023, and 2024. Her work has also won a Broadcast Award, an AIB award for Best UK Documentary, and she is a 2024 Orwell Prize, BAFTA, and British Journalism Awards nominee for stories including 'Amazon's Waste Scandal.' Originally from New Zealand, Imogen started her journalism career in radio and worked in regional and national newsrooms before joining ITN.  As a producer, she travelled across the UK and internationally, working on some of the biggest news stories of the last decade.  At ITV News, Imogen leads teams working on a wide range of investigations.  

Hannah Cogan who has worked for Panorama, Dispatches and Unreported World. She is a producer and journalist working across current affairs and specialist factual programming, particularly covering American politics and history, and has made programs for Channel 4, BBC 1, National Geographic, Netflix, YouTube and Channel 5. Hannah has set up filming in the White House, Trump Campaign, Congress and Westminster, as well as in hospitals, police units, and abortion clinics. She has developed films for production around the world, and worked extensively across the United States.

Alison Phillips. Commentator, Editor, Journalist and Vice President of the Society of Editors. Senior advisor, MHP Group and columnist , New Statesman. As former Editor in Chief at The Mirror, Alison showed unparalleled brilliance at translating complex political corporate and business stories of importance for a fast moving tabloid audience.

Join journalist turned life coach, Rosie Nixon as she guides you through our resilience series session on discovering your transferable skills. 

Against a backdrop of redundancy and rapid industry change Rosie will help you find the best solutions on:

• How to identify transferable skills

• Looking for new paths/roles - understanding your values

• Tips for navigating a changing path - within journalism or other complementary roles. 

This is a 30-min virtual lunchtime session. Register below to attend.

Women in Journalism would love you to join us at our celebration of South Asian Heritage month.

Hosted at ITN we will be holding a panel discussion chaired by the legendary writer and broadcaster Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and her guests will include journalists and commentators Ash Sarkar, Anita Bhagwandas, and Poorna Bell who will be discussing their careers and the current media landscape . Everyone is welcome to join us for refreshments, snacks and a fascinating discussion.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is a British journalist and author. A columnist for the i newspaper and the Evening Standard, she is a commentator on immigration, diversity, and multiculturalism issues. She is a founding member of British Muslims for Secular Democracy. Yasmin is a longstanding WIJ Advisory Board member.

Ash Sarkar describes herself as anarcho-fabulous and a luxury-communist with the walk of a supermodel. An outspoken commentator on politics and the culture wars, her famous run-in with Piers Morgan went viral. She is contributing editor of Novara media, commentator on Newsnight and Question Time, as well as numerous other print and broadcast outlets. 

Poorna Bell is an award-winning journalist of 21 years, author in non-fiction and fiction and digital editorial expert. She is a fitness diversity advocate with a diversity platform See My Strong, and her book around the redefinition of mental and physical strength for women, Stronger, won a Sunday Times Sports Book award. Poorna previously worked as the UK Executive Editor and Global Lifestyle Head for HuffPost and currently is a columnist for The I Paper.

Anita Bhagwandas is a celebrated journalist and an authoritative voice in beauty culture, challenging norms through her multifaceted career. Anitas insightful approach is evident across her endeavours. Her book, UGLY: Giving Us Back Our Beauty Standards marries personal memoir with cultural analysis, gaining serialisation and acclaim for its exploration of beauty norms. Anita is a seasoned speaker, adept at curating and moderating discussions on significant topics like appearance bias and inclusivity at leading events. Her broadcasting talent shines through as a guest on numerous podcasts and BBC’s Woman’s Hour, BBC Asian Network as well as live stints as a beauty expert on Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch, demonstrating a relaxed and engaging style.

It’s the party you’ve been waiting for! Sponsored by Cision

A chance to let your hair down and enjoy a drink whilst you network.

Join us for a fun evening of networking - meet up with old and new friends and enjoy the glorious outside courtyard of the October Gallery

Buy your ticket quickly as this events sells out FAST!

NEW DATE COMING SOON

For those who have already bought a ticket, please email Kate McMillan at wijuk@aol.com

This event is aimed at editors and staff writers (especially those with young children/who are contemplating working part-time) and freelancers.

Ever wondered what it was like to share a job in journalism? How does it even work? Is it better for your career than going part time and why should you consider it? How do you even get a job share, when so few are advertised? And if you do get one, how can you ensure it is successful and make it work? What is the best way to pitch job-sharing editors as a freelancer? How can editors/managers support women in job shares,  - and what are the pros and cons?

Join our expert panel to get answers to all these questions and more, as they share their top tips for making a job share successful.

Aimed at women who are considering doing job shares -as well as editors who are interested in hiring job shares - you will get the inside track on how job sharing actually works in practice.

The event will cover:

- the pros and cons of job shares and why they may be better than a part-time role

- how to do a job share well

- what not to do - the easy mistakes

- how to manage a couple of job sharers well

- plus, importantly,  how to persuade your employer that it is a great idea!

Recordings available for those who buy a ticket but are unable to attend the session.

The panellists are:

• Kate Bussmann is Editor at Expedia Group, and before that was in a job share with Naomi Greenaway at The Telegraph.  A journalist for over 25 years in London and New York, she has worked for international newspapers and magazines, and wrote a book, A Twitter Year. She worked at The Telegraph for a decade, half of which was as a job share after she adopted a child; this was the newspaper's first job share. 

• Louise Court is a former Editorial Director of Hearst UK and Editor in Chief of Cosmopolitan, who also serves on the committee of Women in Journalism and had managed and worked for job sharing editors in the past

• Donna Ferguson is an award winning freelancer for The Guardian and Observer who is on the WiJ committee with Louise and runs regular masterclasses for WIJ and the NUJ (chair of the panel)

• Naomi Greenaway is deputy editor of the Telegraph Magazine. Previously the deputy editor of Stella, the Telegraph's Sunday Magazine. She was the assistant editor of Glamour Magazine when she lived in South Africa and currently has a column in the Jewish Chronicle. Naomi is a mother of three and had a successful job-share with Kate Bussman for five years when she started at the Telegraph. 

• Charlotte Northedge is joint Head of Books for the Guardian. Charlotte has previously worked for a range of newspapers and magazines, including the Guardian, Psychologies and Cosmopolitan. She has published two novels with HarperCollins, The House Guest and The People Before, which is being adapted into a film by Sea High Productions. She is in a job share with Liese Spencer at the Guardian.

• Liese Spencer is joint Head of Books at the Guardian. Liese previously wrote and edited for a wide range of publications including the Independent, Mail on Sunday, Olive and Sight and Sound as well as working as the Guardian's Arts editor. She is in a job share with Charlotte Northedge. 

Please join us for an exciting evening of mentoring and networking!

Got a question about your journalism career you'd love to ask an expert? We've lined up a top team of WIJ mentors from across the industry to help you. Meet them all at our speed mentoring event, with delicious food and drink provided by Tesco.  

Including WiJ mentors:

Alison Phillips: served as Editor-in-Chief of the Mirror from 2018 until 2024 during which time she was responsible for the Daily, Sunday and digital editions. Alison was Editor of the Sunday Mirror, 2012-2016 and Deputy Editor in Chief of Reach plc, 2016-2024.  Alison is Vice President of the Society of Editors and was Chair of Women in Journalism, 2020-2023.

Daisy Wyatt:  Associate Editor of The Daily Express. Daisy leads on audience engagement and reader revenue strategies, as well as editing express.co.uk day-to-day. 

Sally Newall: Currently freelance, Sally is an experienced lifestyle editor and writer who has led teams at national publications including The Independent, Eliza (DMG) and across Hearst UK's portfolio, working on titles such as Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Good Housekeeping and Esquire.

Nina Pullman: Producer, Food Programme, BBC Radio 4. Former managing editor of Wicked Leeks, Riverford Organic's magazine.

Um-E-Aymen Babar: is an award-winning journalist currently working at Sky Sports. Her work has featured in Wisden, The Telegraph and BBC Sport covering the intersection between race, class and cricket. She was shortlisted for the 2023 SJA 'Ones to Watch'. In 2021, Um-E-Aymen graduated from the University of Cambridge before pursuing her NCTJ with a BCOMS scholarship. 

Vikki Hood: has worked in in‐house Media Relations for nearly 20 years across a number of sectors; from leading Honda’s Pan European comms on advanced technologies to seeing Virgin Trains through franchises bids to heading up the Tesco Press Office during the pandemic. Vikki is passionate about the value of earned media coverage for businesses and the importance of language and tone in communications.  As well as leading on reactive issues and supporting proactive stories, Vikki also now looks after Consumer PR for Tesco.

Tesco are delighted to be supporting the WiJ network and mentoring scheme and are honoured to be holding the event at the wonderful Future Dreams House, which provides such crucial support from those touched by breast cancer.

This practical masterclass will focus on the financial side of working as a journalist - how you can:

• Stop wasting time on pitches that don’t get commissioned: how to target publications more effectively and improve your pitch rate success

• Negotiate higher fees when you do get commissioned - how much extra to ask for and the phrases to use, with real life examples of successful negotiations

• Ways to save money - how to cut your costs and reduce your tax bill

You will leave feeling empowered to get more commissions and increase your earning potential.

The session host is Donna Ferguson, a multiple award winning freelance journalist who is on the committee of Women in Journalism. Donna is a regular freelance writer for The Guardian and the Observer, writing for a plethora of different sections, including Observer magazine and the newsdesk.

She has won eight awards for her work as a freelance journalist and been shortlisted for 29 others, including most recently freelance journalist of the year 2023 at the inaugural Freelance Journalism awards.

She decided to go freelance ten years ago, after having a baby, and says that getting pregnant was the “best career move she ever made”, thanks to everything she has since achieved as a freelancer. She has never had a staff job on a national and started out with very few contacts, cold pitching all the editors that she now regularly writes for.

In this unmissable masterclass, top print editors and successful freelance journalists share their tips about what editors do and do not want to see in freelance pitches. 

Aimed at both experienced and inexperienced freelancers, you will learn exactly what you should be including in your pitches and how you can sharpen them up.

This masterclass includes the advice (and contact details) of top commissioning editors at the Observer, Sunday Times magazine, The Telegraph, Good Housekeeping, The Guardian and The Mail on Sunday, among others.

It also includes real life examples of successful pitches, and advice from editors about everything from ‘what to put in the subject line’ and ‘the best  time of day’ to pitch to tips about what makes a good pitch stand out and what you should never put in a pitch.

You will leave feeling a lot more confident about how to write excellent pitches that present your ideas in the best possible way.

The session host is Donna Ferguson, a multiple award winning freelance journalist who is on the committee of Women in Journalism. Donna is a regular freelance writer for The Guardian and the Observer, writing for a plethora of different sections, including Observer magazine and the newsdesk.

She has won eight awards for her work as a freelance journalist and been shortlisted for 29 others, including most recently freelance journalist of the year 2023 at the inaugural Freelance Journalism awards.

She decided to go freelance ten years ago, after having a baby, and says that getting pregnant was the “best career move she ever made”, thanks to everything she has since achieved as a freelancer. She has never had a staff job on a national and started out with very few contacts, cold pitching all the editors that she now regularly writes for.

“How women shape the news.” As we face a high -stakes election what role does modern media play? STARTS AT 6.30 with Drinks

With confirmed speakers Rachel Corp, WiJ chair and CEO of ITN; Beth Rigby, Sky News Political Editor; Debbie Ramsay, Editor of 5 News, Pippa Crerar, political editor of the Guardian and Channel 4 News Fact Check and Data Editor Georgina Lee.

In an election year, and with constantly breaking news stories, we meet the women responsible for bringing the news into people's home and reporting the events shaping our times.

Beth Rigby is political editor for Sky. She has worked as a political journalist for nearly a decade, covering two general elections, the Scottish independence and EU referendums. She has interviewed the biggest names in British politics, and broken exclusive stories around cabinet reshuffles, splits and the Brexit crisis.

Beth worked as a newspaper journalist for nearly two decades at The Times and Financial Times, where she held a variety of positions including media editor, deputy political editor and consumer industries editor.

A former financial journalist, she won awards for her work as the Financial Times' retail correspondent and hedge fund writer.

Debbie Ramsay worked at the BBC for 16 years. She was an Executive Editor at BBC News in charge of commissioning original journalism, and before that she was Head of Youth Journalism. Debbie had senior editorial roles at Radio 1 and 1Xtra, leading a large team of journalists to provide news for the BBC's flagship multi-platform youth outlets.

She began her career working on local newspapers in the northwest of England, before moving into local radio there and in Birmingham before going on to Capital FM in presenting and breakfast news editor roles. She now works at Channel 5.

Pippa Crerar was previously deputy Political Editor at The Guardian before her promotion to political editor and spent a decade covering London and Westminster politics for the Evening Standard, including the mayoralties of Boris Johnson and Sadiq Khan. She was also the Political Editor of the Daily Mirror, based in Parliament.

Before Rachel Corp was appointed CEO of ITN, she was Editor of ITV News, produced by ITN, where she was responsible for the vision, strategy and direction for all of ITV’s national news programmes and digital output, as well as overseeing ITV News London, ITV News-produced Tonight programme episodes, current affairs series On Assignment, and special live programmes such as General Elections and Royal events. Rachel was appointed chair of WiJ in 2023.

This event is sponsored by Walkers & Cision.

Do you dread getting rejected when you pitch? Are you sick of it? Do you ever look at other freelancers and wonder what their secret is - why they get commissioned, and you don’t?

Over the years, this hugely popular masterclass from award-winning freelance journalist Donna Ferguson has helped many freelance print journalists to overcome their fear of rejection and learn how to turn their rejections into commissions.

It offers real life examples of some of the rejections that Donna has endured during her freelance career - and how she has learned, eventually, to turn them into commissions.

You will leave the session empowered not only to deal with all the rejection you face as a freelance print journalist, but all the negative thoughts that come with it, having gained a new perspective on the successes and failures of other freelancers. 

The session host is Donna Ferguson, a multiple award winning freelance journalist who is on the committee of Women in Journalism. Donna is a regular freelance writer for The Guardian and the Observer, writing for a plethora of different sections, including Observer magazine and the newsdesk.

She has won eight awards for her work as a freelance journalist and been shortlisted for 29 others, including most recently freelance journalist of the year 2023 at the inaugural Freelance Journalism awards.

She decided to go freelance ten years ago, after having a baby, and says that getting pregnant was the “best career move she ever made”, thanks to everything she has since achieved as a freelancer. She has never had a staff job on a national and started out with very few contacts, cold pitching all the editors that she now regularly writes for.

WOMEN IN WAR ZONES

2023 was the deadliest year in a decade for journalists working in conflict zones, with killings almost doubling compared to the past three years.

What is causing the increasing risks, and how is it changing the coverage of conflicts? Do female journalists face specific security concerns in hostile environments?

Considering the high number of journalists killed in the Gaza strip and the reporting restriction on that particular war, there couldn't be a more apt time for this discussion.

We'll be joined by Christina Lamb, Senior Foreign Correspondent for the Sunday Times, who has written extensively about the impact of sexual violence against women in war zones; Deborah Haynes, Defence Editor at Sky News and by Hind Hassan, international correspondent for VICE News. The discussion will be moderated by the journalist and broadcaster Barbara Serra and introduced by WiJ chair Rachel Corp.

Barbara Serra is an award-winning journalist, TV presenter, documentary-maker and author. She joined Sky News as a presenter in October 2023.
From 2006 to 2022 she anchored Al Jazeera English’s flagship NewsHour programme from the channel’s European headquarters in London, and reported extensively from Europe and the Middle East.

In 2020 Barbara co-produced, wrote and presented the documentary ‘Fascism in the Family’, which won both the ‘Current Affairs’ and ‘History’ categories at the New York Festival’s Film and Television awards.

Barbara writes a Substack Newsletter called ‘News with a Foreign Accent’, in which she explores the challenges of being second-language English and the impact that English as the global language has on the international media’s perception of world affairs.

Hind Hassan is a multi-Emmy Award winning international correspondent for VICE News, covering conflicts, humanitarian crises, and the most significant developing stories worldwide.

Since joining VICE News, Hassan has reported on wars and uprisings across the globe. Notably, she embedded with the Taliban in Afghanistan just months before the group's takeover of Kabul. She was on the ground in Jerusalem and Gaza, ahead of the military offensive on the Strip in 2021 and her team became the first journalists to independently confirm the use of cluster munitions against civilians in Azerbaijan during the battle over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Most recently, Hassan investigated the deteriorating security situation in the West Bank and covered Russia's war on Ukraine from the frontlines. She also filmed at the epicentre of the devastating earthquake in Turkey and has investigated an attempted prison break by ISIS in northern Syria. In November 2022, Hassan reported live from inside an armed bank raid while covering the economic crisis in Lebanon.

Hassan is a recipient of five News and Documentary Emmys as well as an Edward R. Murrow, Overseas Press Club of America and a Gracie award. She was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy for her work on the VICE on SHOWTIME series. 

Before joining VICE News, Hassan worked at Sky News and Al Jazeera.

Christina Lamb OBE is Chief Foreign Correspondent at The Sunday Times as well as a bestselling author.  

She has reported from most of the world’s hotspots from Afghanistan to Ukraine after an unexpected wedding invitation led her to Karachi in 1987 when she was just 21. She won numerous awards including six times being named Foreign Correspondent of the Year; as well as Europe’s top war reporting prize - the Prix Bayeux, and was recently given the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society of Editors and Outstanding Impact Award by Amnesty International for her work on ISIS camps in Syria.

She has always particularly focused on what happens to women in war and collected accounts of sexual violence in conflict from all over the world for her book Our Bodies, Their Battlefields; described by leading historian Antony Beevor as ‘the most powerful book’ he had ever read and shortlisted for the Orwell Prize, the Bailie Gifford and the Kapuscinski award.  

She has authored ten books including co-writing the global bestseller I Am Malala with Malala Yousafzai. She is a Global Envoy for UN Education Cannot Wait, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, an Honorary Fellow of University College Oxford, on the International Board of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and an Associate of the Imperial War Museum.

SOLD OUT

Join Leah Boleto and WIJ as we sit for a fireside chat with Ash Sarkar.

The charismatic Ash Sarkar describes herself as anarcho-fabulous and a luxury-communist with the walk of a supermodel. An outspoken commentator on politics and the culture wars, her famous run-in with Piers Morgan went viral. She is contributing editor of Novara media, commentator on Newsnight and Question Time, as well as numerous other print and broadcast outlets. 

We explore what makes her tick, talk about the inspirational women in her family, the importance of humour as well as her love of good kebabs and Tottenham Hotspurs.

Leah Boleto is currently a reporter and presenter for Sky News.

Leah grew up in Tower Hamlets in East London, where she was told in a career chat that she should aim to work at Boots not the BBC. No offence to Boots of course.

Nonetheless Leah became a familiar face on BBC television for almost two decades fronting some of the corporations biggest natural history shows, tracking down the European eel for Autumnwatch to counting down Tim Peak to blast off to the International Space Station from the Science Museum.

Leah’s Journalism journey started with a flagship traineeship with Radio 1 Newsbeat before finding her home with the CBBC Newsround team where she covered presidential inaugurations, Olympic Games and World Cups.

Leah is now a freelance presenter working with Channel 5 News, Sky News and the BBC while managing two toddlers and Yorkshire terrier at home. She’s also one of the lead interviewers at the Henley Literary Festival.

Join us for drinks and networking after the event!

(Online)

In this unmissable masterclass, top print editors and successful freelance journalists share their tips about what editors do and do not want to see in freelance pitches. Aimed at both experienced and inexperienced freelancers, you will learn exactly what you should be including in your pitches and how you can sharpen them up.

(online)

Do you dread getting rejected when you pitch? Do you ever look at other freelancers and wonder what their secret is - why they get commissioned, and you don’t? Over the years, this hugely popular masterclass has helped many freelance print journalists to overcome their fear of rejection and learn how to turn their rejections into commissions.

Alison Gow, former head of digital innovation at Reach publishing, will be chairing our event on AI and the effects it will have on journalism- one of the most important discussions of our times in terms of jobs, ethics, influence and information.

Panellists are:
- Emma Byrne, is a journalist and scientist with a PhD in AI. When she’s not developing intelligent systems, she writes for Forbes, the FT, Wired, and the Guardian. She is co-host and exec-producer of NonFicPod and frequently appears on Sky News and the BBC talking about the future of artificial intelligence and
robotics.
- Charlie Beckett is a professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the LSE. He is the founding director of Polis, the London School of Economics' International Journalism Institute. He is currently leading the Google DNI Journalism
and AI research project. He was the leader of the 2018 LSE Truth, Trust and Technology Commission.
- Nic Newman is a journalist and digital strategist who played a key role in shaping the BBC's digital and internet services over more than a decade. He is now Senior Research Associate at the Reuters Institute.
- Marcus Ryder MBE is a leader on the issue of diversity in the UK media industry, backed by a track-record of award-winning news and current affairs productions. He is Head of External Consultancies for the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity

Our annual summer party is here.

Join the Women in Journalism summer celebration on July 11th at ITN to meet fellow members and journalists.

Tickets are £15 and this is a members only event.

Lorraine Candy is an award-winning journalist and editor. A former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, ELLE, and most recently Sunday Times Style, she began her career on The Cornish Times before going on to become Woman’s Editor at The Sun and then Features Editor at The Times. Her first book: Mum What’s Wrong With You: 101 Things Only the Mothers of Teenage Girls Know (published in 2021), is a Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller.

She will be her talking about her career across newspapers and magazines, fashion and news. and also how she has reinvented her career in media in midlife, using her journalistic skills and life experience to write two books, create a podcast and become a social commentator.

Lorraine’s second book What’s Wrong With Me – 101 things midlife women need to know is a memoir and tackles career reinvention among other stuff . Her first book, Mum What’s Wrong With You was a Sunday Times best-seller about raising teenage girls.

As a mum of four she has over a decade of experience writing about parenting in national publications, including columns with the Sunday Times Magazine and Femail in the Daily Mail. She also writes for the monthly and weekly fashion and beauty magazines. Lorraine is co-host of the chart-topping lifestyle podcast Postcards from Midlife. She is on the advisory board at Tate Modern and on the Tate gallery membership council.

Lorraine is a champion of educating young girls, working on the media advisory board of the global charity Their World. She’s also an ambassador for the charity Women In Sport and the newly launched Menopause Charity.

Louise Court, WiJ Director of Events will be interviewing Lorraine. Louise's early journalism career included work as an entertainment writer at Express Newspapers, deputy editor of Prima, and assistant editor of Woman's Own. Louise was then deputy editor at Best magazine, becoming editor later, and was also editor of Cosmopolitan UK.