Journalism

Ben Parsons

Journalism Course Leader 
Ben Parsons spent five years as crime reporter of The Argus in Brighton, after spells as a district reporter, health reporter and assistant news editor of the North-West Evening Mail. He has also worked as an online sub-editor for sportinglife.com and for redbull.com. He has recently started working as a freelance copy editor for the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.

Ben also conducts training for Sky Digital journalists. Ben’s  teaching includes newswriting, shorthand, media law, practical journalism and political philosophy. He is also a member of the NCTJ's Media Law Examinations Board and a fellow of the Higher Education Authority.

Simon Mcennis 

Principal Lecturer
Simon has a professional background in both news and sport journalism. He is a fully NCTJ-qualified senior journalist who started his career as a news reporter with a regional daily, the Colchester Gazette, before moving into national newspapers with The Sun.

Simon also runs a 20-session advanced journalism programme for industry professionals at Sky. Simon has worked in academia since 2009. His research focuses on journalism professionalism and he has had scholarly work published in Digital Journalism, Journalism and Journalism Practice. Simon has also written articles for The Conversation website.

Owen Evans 

Sport Journalism Course Leader 
Owen is an NCTJ-qualified journalist who started his career as a news reporter with the Surrey Advertiser before becoming editor of Sport Business International. 

Owen teaches public affairs and digital journalism and his research interests are in the relationship between journalism education and the public relations industry. He has presented widely at conferences including the Association for Journalism Educators’ annual conference in summer 2018.