Media professionals are joining forces with Bermuda College to launch a new course in journalism.

And people who are interested in finding out more should come to the College on June 12 at 6 p.m. at the West Hall, Ground Floor, Room W108. There Janel Sloan, the Director of the Centre for Professional and Career Education (PACE) and media experts will be on-hand to explain the course in more detail and answer questions.

The course, which will be run through PACE, will be accredited through the National Council for the Training of Journalists, the body recognised throughout the UK as the leader in training reporters.

It is hoped to get the new course up and running by September, and it will consist of shorthand, media law, how to write a newspaper story, on-line journalism, including video production, and the ins-and-outs of Government.

Mrs. Sloan said: "This is as an excellent example of what the College can do in partnership with industry to provide professional development in an area as critical to the Island as journalism and the need to produce more home-grown journalists. It is an exciting opportunity and one I am sure people will be very interested in.

"We hope that many, many people turn up on June 12 to hear about the course and what it has to offer."

Currently there is no course in journalism on the Island and people interested in pursuing a career in the media often have to go overseas to train or study.

This part-time course, which will take about 10 months to complete, will culminate in a series of exams and an internationally-recognised qualification.

Royal Gazette Editor Bill Zuill said: "We are very pleased to be working with the Bermuda College on this project, which we hope will help to develop a pipeline of young, and not so young, Bermudians who are interested in an exciting and rewarding career in all forms of journalism.

"Bermuda has a rich and unusually heavy concentration of media for a community of its size, but it is only as good as the people working in the profession. We hope this course will serve as a foundation for a new generation of Bermudian journalists."

Sun Editor Tony McWilliam added: "Hopefully this new course will make journalism a more attractive and viable career choice for Bermudians. Formal training will help to raise standards."

For more information, interested persons can contact Theresa Martin at 236 9000 ext 4119 or 4117 or e-mail tmartin@college.bm or padmin@college.bm.