By NCTJ student Andrew Young

DARLINGTON'S long-established reputation for training journalists entered a new era today.

A long list of high-profile journalists have trained at Darlington College over the years, including John Sergeant, the BBC's former Chief Political Correspondent and ex-Political Editor of ITN, who began his career in the town in 1967.

The Northern Echo has always enjoyed a strong association with the college and that has been taken to a new level today with the launch of a formal partnership.

From today, students on the National Council For The Training of Journalists (NCTJ) course in Darlington will attend a "newsroom day" at Newsquest North-East, publisher of The Northern Echo, as part of their training.

Every Thursday, the students - under the guidance of course leader, experienced journalist, and former Darlington College student Sue Calvert - will spent the day working at The Northern Echo offices.

They will be generating stories, pictures and video as well as interacting with staff journalists and attending news conferences.

Northern Echo editor Peter Barron, who also trained at Darlington College in 1980, said: "The Northern Echo and Darlington College have enjoyed a mutually beneficial partnership for many years but this arrangement takes it to a much higher level.

"The students will receive valuable experience in a real newsroom environment, while we will clearly benefit from the extra content they produce. I think it's really exciting.

"The students have already come in with some brilliant stories and I can't wait to see them published in our papers and websites."

Alan Jones, the college's curriculum manager for arts, media and publishing, added: "The partnership is an excellent opportunity for the trainees to gain real experience in a multimedia newsroom and generate content for their NCTJ portfolios."

Philip Buckingham, from Durham, one of the students, who has spent several weeks on work experience at The Northern Echo, said: "It’s really great to be working so closely with an establishment such as The Northern Echo.

"I’m really looking forward to starting."