Guild member Sarah Trickett has been named as one of 10 young agricultural journalists from around the world that will be supported to attend the 2010 IFAJ Congress in Belgium.
As a recipient of the IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism award, which recognises the leadership potential of young members from countries belonging to the IFAJ, Farmers Weekly journalist Sarah will receive 1,000 euros to enable her to participate at the event.
Announcing this year’s winners, IFAJ president Mike Wilson said: “We live in a fast-paced world that demands an increasingly global perspective for professional communicators. Through this partnership with Alltech, the IFAJ can provide young journalists with that perspective by networking with other colleagues at our annual congresses.”
A shortlist of entrants for the award were nominated by their country’s respective guilds, with the final selection of winners being made by an IFAJ committee comprising secretary general Owen Roberts (Canada), Hans Siemes (Netherlands) and JoAnn Alumbaugh (USA).
The winners will each contribute a 500-word story or a three-minute broadcast about their experiences at the 2010 congress to IFAJ News or the federation’s website.
Sarah has been working for Farmers Weekly, initially as livestock reporter and now as deputy livestock editor, for almost two years. She joined the magazine from industry, rather than as a journalist, and admits that the change has been challenging at times.
“Joining professional organisations and attending congresses has aided my transition into journalism by enabling me to learn more about the subject,” she said. “My desire to extend knowledge about agricultural journalism is the reason I applied for the travel scholarship to attend the IFAJ congress in Belgium.
“I believe the congress will be a good place to gain knowledge about different skills from other journalists across the world. Whether these are writing, video, and increasingly different web-based skills, it will be interesting to find out how other magazines are meeting the changing way of media.”
The IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism awards is now in its fifth year. Growing from two journalists in year one, the award now supports 10 young journalists, thanks to a commitment from global animal health company Alltech.
Guild members have won the award for the past three years: Farm Business editor Andrew Watts (2009), Farmers Guardian livestock reporter Katie Lomas (2008) and freelance Clemmie Gleeson (2007)
