New bursary to support overseas International Journalism MA students

The new Richard Beeston Bursary will support an International Journalism MA student at City, University of London for each of the next four academic years.

The Richard Beeston Trust, set up in memory of the former Foreign Editor of The Times, will sponsor a successful overseas applicant for the programme with a £6,000 bursary towards fees and living costs to study on the programme, starting from the 2023/24 academic year.

To apply for the bursary for September 2023 intake, prospective students must submit a 500-word essay on the topic of ‘Why is the role of foreign correspondents still important within the huge tide of information available?’ to the School of Communication & Creativity’s admissions office by Tuesday 6 June.

Suzanne Franks, Professor of Journalism at City, said:

“We are delighted by this wonderful gesture from the Richard Beeston Trust that will go a really long way towards helping students with study costs.

International journalism is playing an increasingly key role in divulging information from around the world, at a time of so much geopolitical activity. Richard Beeston himself was a fine example of this with his work in the Middle East with both the Daily Star and then The Times.

“The International Journalism MA at City is a professionally-focused master’s degree and includes practical and academic components, such as fieldwork, workshops, studio work and an option between a final practical project or dissertation.

“We look forward to receiving and reviewing submissions for this generous bursary.”

Natasha Fairweather, Richard Beeston Trust, said:

“Richard was a life-long foreign correspondent and, once he became Foreign Editor of The Times, he mentored many young journalists and gave many of them their first opportunities to report from abroad. Following his death, this was the inspiration behind setting up the Richard Beeston Bursary.

“In the past, Richard Beeston Bursaries have supported young journalists with internships at The Times. However, during the pandemic, we reassessed how the bursary was working and decided it would be more useful to provide a bursary for more formal journalistic training.

“We hope that the bursary will make it possible for a highly motivated overseas student to come to London to study, regardless of whether or not they have the financial means.

We passionately believe in the importance of high journalistic standards in an increasingly divided and intolerant world that is subject to propaganda and fake news, and that open and unbiased journalism is the cornerstone of democratic institutions.

Applicants must have permanent residence from outside of the United Kingdom, and should have already applied for a place on the City International Journalism MA programme prior to, or along with, their essay submission. The bursary is payable in three termly instalments. Further details about how to apply for the bursary can be found on the City website.

Find out more about the Richard Beeston Bursary.