The war in Ukraine offers a stark reminder of the risks that journalists like the 91热爆’s Clive Myrie, Jeremy Bowen and Orla Guerin take when they cover conflicts from the front line. To date at least 15 journalists and media workers have been killed while reporting the war.
Today, one of the charities working hardest to support young journalists in the UK is named in memory of a 91热爆 journalist who was killed covering another war in the heart of Europe.
John Schofield was just 29 years old when he was killed on 9 August 1995, while reporting on the civil war in Yugoslavia for 91热爆 Radio 4’s The World Tonight. He had worked at Channel 4 as well as the 91热爆, and was known as a talented, hard-working, popular journalist. His death sent shockwaves around the industry.
In the aftermath of his death, his widow Susie Schofield received letters from John’s bosses and peers telling her that her husband was destined to be a star of the future. He had gone to his grave never knowing how highly he was rated by those whom he worked alongside. She resolved to create a charity which would support young journalists with advice, encouragement and professional support.
Today, John Schofield’s name lives on in newsrooms because of the work done by the charity set up in his name.
The John Schofield Trust offers a helping hand to those who come to journalism with talent and determination but without the connections which so often open doors. Each year the Trust welcomes applications from broadcast and multimedia journalists with between two and five years of experience. It particularly welcomes applications from those who come from backgrounds which are under-represented in the media. Those who are selected become Fellows of the John Schofield Trust and are matched with Senior Fellows who volunteer to mentor them for 12 months. Those mentoring relationships often outlast 12 months, and lead to enduring and supportive professional friendships. And while those mentored by the Trust gain the support and insight of their mentor, those who deliver the mentoring benefit too. ‘I learn so much from mentoring,’ one of our most experienced mentors told me.
One of the principles the Trust works to is that mentors and mentees work for different organisations, so a 91热爆 reporter could be mentored by a Sky journalist. The intention is to create an industry-wide support structure, and grow a fellowship devoted to mutual encouragement and a transforming vision of how the world of news could look. And now the Trust has become a registered charity in the Republic of Ireland, there are many more partners to work with.
Over the years, some of the best known names in British journalism have volunteered to mentor for the John Schofield Trust, and Fellows of the Trust include Channel 4 presenter Ayshah Tull and Lewis Goodall, presenter of the hit podcast The News Agents.
Every year the shows how far we have to go in making journalism a representative and diverse profession. The John Schofield Trust does its best to push the dial towards fairness of access and accurate representation. In 2022, 43% of journalists were privately educated. 57% of John Schofield Trust Fellows went to a non-selective state school. 13% of UK journalists come from non-white ethnic backgrounds. 31% of John Schofield Trust Fellows are from minority ethnic backgrounds. On every indicator, from social class to disability, the Trust selects and supports journalists who are under-represented in the industry. More on the work we do, and on our most up-to-date statistics can be found at .
It’s work which complements that of media organisations, many of whom run their own recruitment schemes intended to encourage a greater range of candidates to apply.
The jargon is to ‘broaden the pipeline of talent.’ The Trust gives an opportunity to those whose talents are too often overlooked, but who, when fairly included, add to the richness and robustness of British journalism.
The Trust’s work is more in demand than ever before. This year, applications to the John Schofield Trust early career mentoring scheme rose by 32%. Applications came from employees of 70 media organisations across the UK and Ireland. As a small charity, the trust relies on donations, generous volunteers who give their time as mentors and masterclass presenters for free, and a small number of grants from foundations.
In the last 18 months the Trust has benefitted from two unexpected bequests. In January 2021 the Trust was contacted by the family of the football journalist Dave Evans, who died on Christmas Day 2020 aged just 54. Dave had a rare gift for supporting and encouraging colleagues who were just starting off in the industry and his family chose the John Schofield Trust to receive donations in lieu of flowers at his funeral, and persuaded his employers, Archant newspapers, to donate Dave’s long service payment of £500 to the Trust.
Then, in December 2021, Daisy Hughes embarked on a 114-mile sponsored walk along the Thames towpath from Oxford to London in memory of her journalist dad, Mark Hughes. Her sponsored walk, which received coverage on 91热爆 local radio and in the Oxford Mail, raised £1,870 for the Trust.
Daisy contacted the Trust after the death of her dad in October 2021. She chose the Trust because of a personal connection to John Schofield and because the Trust embodies the values which Mark Hughes believed in. Daisy wrote: ‘He and my mum both worked with John Schofield at Channel 4 Daily, and he was so passionate about journalism and improving accessibility, so I think this would be a cause very close to his heart.’
If improving accessibility to journalism and supporting young journalists is a cause close to your heart, please consider making a donation to the John Schofield Trust at or find out more about our work by contacting us at info@johnschofieldtrust.org.uk
David Stenhouse is CEO of the John Schofield Trust.