education

How a unique home-share scheme aims to diversify the media

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For aspiring young journalists trying to break into the media industry, barriers to entry can be impossibly high. Unpaid internships combined with skyrocketing rents means often only the wealthy can get a foot in the door and there is a huge lack of diversity – journalism in Britain is 94% white, 86% university-educated and 55% male.

A social enterprise is trying to tackle the problem by matching established journalists who have a spare room with interns who otherwise would not be able to afford accommodation.

PressPad has so far supported 50 young journalists, giving them a place to stay during unpaid internships or work experience as well as valuable support and mentorship. It now hopes to crowdfund £30,000 to hire a coordinator to help expand its operation.

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A large proportion of the UK’s media industry is based in London, where a month’s unpaid internship can cost £1,019 according to research by the Sutton Trust.

The BBC journalist Olivia Crellin founded PressPad in 2018 after hearing stories of aspiring journalists unable to afford the costs of starting out. She found that many of her colleagues were keen to improve access to the industry, and a quick Facebook post led to 20 willing hosts.

Crellin said: “I had no idea if it would work or if people would be interested in it. Journalists work long hours; it’s a very demanding career. So the idea of taking a complete stranger, including one who is likely younger and in need of mentorship, into your home is quite a big ask.”

Aspiring journalist Annissa Warsame (left) and PressPad founder Olivia Crellin.



Aspiring journalist Annissa Warsame (left) and PressPad founder Olivia Crellin. Composite: PressPad

PressPad has about 150 hosts on its books, all of whom are verified media professionals and will soon undergo DBS checks.

Interns get their first two weeks of accommodation for free and are charged £150 a week after that, half of which is given to the host, but interns can apply for a means-tested bursary if they are unable to afford this. Media organisations can also buy PressPad “credit” that can be used to fund accommodation for their interns.

Annissa Warsame, 20, was one of PressPad’s first interns. She stayed in Greenwich, south-east London with the journalists Kate Middleton and Meirion Jones while she completed an internship at Shine A Light, an investigative journalism project from openDemocracy.

Warsame, a history and politics student from Birmingham, said she had no London connections to stay with so discovering PressPad was a stroke of luck.

She said: “Kate and Meirion knew that they weren’t just offering a place to stay but they were cultivating this experience that would be something I could look back on when I’m hopefully a more established journalist.”

Warsame asked for their advice and feedback after work each day and they had Sunday dinner together. She keeps Middleton and Jones updated on her life and has returned to stay with them for another work experience placement. “They said the door is always open for me. It’s really nice having that kind of connection.”

This article is part of a series on possible solutions to some of the world’s most stubborn problems. What else should we cover? Email us at theupside@theguardian.com

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