The stipends offer students the opportunity to attend what is regarded as Norway’s most important conference on investigative journalism. This year’s SKUP conference will be held in Tønsberg from 20 to 22 March.
Creating quality
SKUP’s chair Jan Gunnar Furuly values the Schibsted initiative:
“This is an initiative that can help sow the seeds of high quality in the journalism of tomorrow.”
Furuly is now inviting students from all around the country to apply for the stipends.
“We have announced it and invited students to submit their applications along with their reasons for doing so. We will then evaluate all the applications and award ten stipends together with Schibsted.”
According to Furuly, the students will have most of their expenses covered, though they will be expected to cover some of the travel costs themselves.
“We think it’s only fair that they should cover part of the cost of attending,” says Furuly to the Medier24.com website.
Committed to expertise
“Schibsted is committed to expertise and development. The stipends make up part of this commitment,” says Erik Sønstelie, head of Schibsted Journalism Academy.
“These new stipends offer the journalists of tomorrow the opportunity to learn from some of the leading figures in the industry. This will hopefully inspire them to pursue careers in the field.”
Sønstelie says that Schibsted is also willing to collaborate with Gräv, SKUP’s Swedish sister organization. He emphasizes that Schibsted has been one of the most significant contributors to investigative journalism for more than 170 years, and that the Group is continuing this tradition in a variety of ways.
“Schibsted’s media houses in Norway and Sweden spend millions on providing continuing education to journalists. We’ve also established Schibsted Journalism Academy, which offers specialised training across the media houses. Our teaching resources are among the world’s best in their respective fields.”
Sønstelie says that more than 400 participants have benefited from the Academy’s wide range of activities since it opened in 2013.
Major conference
The SKUP conference in Norway has been running since 1990. It draws around 500 journalists and editors every year from Norway and abroad. The program for this year’s conference includes the highly respected American journalist and teacher in data journalism, David Donald. Donald’s lecture and two-day course is a collaborative project between SKUP and Schibsted Journalism Academy.