The Financial Times has launched a fellowship for aspiring ethnic minority journalists in memory of “much-loved” sub-editor Maisie Hylton.
Hylton, who spent 20 years on the FT production desk after 12 years at the Independent, died of a heart attack in June last year aged 59.
In her obituary, FT colleagues said she was as valued for her “sharp eyes, calm manner and professionalism in the face of a deadline”.
Creative Access, the non-profit social enterprise which is working with the FT on the fellowship, said it was being launched “with the aim of promoting greater diversity at the FT, a cause close to Maisie’s heart”.
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The FT created a global diversity chief role in January, and last year editor Lionel Barber said it was “time for a revolution” at the paper as he shared a reader’s letter criticising it for a “lack of diversity” among its columnists.
The fellowship is intended for aspiring BAME journalists who have an interest in current affairs and financial news and can cope with the pressures of a modern newsroom. They do not have to have a degree.
Participants will be embedded within the production and sub-editing teams to learn about skills such as page layout and signing off print pages, with opportunities to edit online content.
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They will also dedicate one day during the fellowship, which comes with a £2,300 monthly bursary, to volunteer for a local cause “in keeping with Maisie’s community spirit”.
Hylton, who worked for the Birmingham Post and Lichfield Mercury earlier in her career, was a school governor and a Social Mobility Foundation mentor and engaged in church and charity work outside office hours.
She also learned sign language so she could communicate with deaf people.
The FT is offering two six-month stints on its production desk, one starting in early 2020 and the other starting next summer.
The deadline to apply is 23 October. Find out more here.
Picture: FT
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