PressPad’s holistic mentoring style

At PressPad, we see mentoring as a holistic process, rather than a purely professional process.

Our mission is to diversify the media by breaking down barriers such as socioeconomic, regional, racial, accessibility and discriminatory issues that young people face when trying to enter the industry. In doing so, we hope to fight systemic issues such as classism, nepotism, racism, sexism, ableism and so on that exist in the journalism industry. People want to hear and read news about them that is made by the people that they represent. Diverse newsrooms make for better coverage that is more well-suited for its audiences, more empathetic and emotionally intelligent. Surely it’s better for someone who’s actually been through an experience to report on it? Surely we should hear voices that represent the whole of the UK when consuming national news, not a select and privileged elite few? Many of the young people who turn to PressPad may not have any pre-existing media connections – why should they be at an unfair disadvantage to nepotism’s prevalence?

*Insert PressPad stats on the industry here*

PressPad’s mentoring style incorporates our ethos. One of the ways in which we do this is by providing mentees with a host-style mentorship, where they can stay with a host in a spare room if they are doing an internship away from where they live. This breaks down financial and regional barriers that they may otherwise face in what is a very London-centric industry.

Furthermore, beyond practical professional advice, such as CV Clinics and Cover Letter reviews, PressPad also offers masterclasses to young people that cover issues such as imposter syndrome, covering all avenues of the industry from freelancing to broadcast journalism to networking.

We know in the realm of social media, where it’s easier to compare yourself to someone else’s journey, that these challenges have a real toll on mental health issues. Particularly in a post-Covid world, young people are facing increased challenges, such as increased job loss and lower salaries as a knock-on effect.

We ask all of our mentors to educate themselves on such issues and see this as an opportunity to look inwardly and to challenge their own biases and prejudices which they may hold. Our approach to mentoring is one of nurture, both personally and professionally, as we aim to empower young people to take steps into the industry whilst simultaneously tackling systemic issues.

Image Credit: Prateek Katyal, Website Link: https://unsplash.com/photos/black-iphone-7-FxtIWX8Q0J4

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