News UK has announced the recipients of the annual News Corp Giving programme. Each year employees across News UK, HarperCollins, and Dow Jones are asked to nominate a charity they would like to see supported, added the publisher. A pot worth £100,000 is then shared between the three chosen charities. This year, the programme theme was ‘Supporting the Future of Writing’ with a focus on charities in three main areas: literacy and learning, safeguarding journalists, and championing the future of writing.
According to the publisher, the fund has been split equally between three charities this year: The Children's Literacy Charity, First Story, and Marie Colvin Journalists' Network.
The Children's Literacy Charity is a specialist charity whose goal is to close the literacy gap for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, enabling them to achieve their potential and contribute fully to society. The donation from News UK will help to run their vital Literacy Lab programme in primary schools and provide over 800 expert tuition sessions, helping disadvantaged children to catch up with their literacy and to become confident and resilient learners.
First Story is one of England’s creative writing charities for young people. Its professional writers equip students in underserved communities with the confidence and skills to tell their own stories. News UK says its donation will support delivering the Young Writers Programme in secondary schools in low-income areas, with inspiring professional writers working intensively with students towards the publication of an anthology.
Finally, the Marie Colvin Journalists' Network is an online community of Arab women journalists that was set up in memory of Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin who was killed in Syria in February 2012 while reporting the cruelty of war. This grant will enable the network to expand to provide more Arab women journalists in the Middle East and North Africa with professional development opportunities, safety training, networking occasions, emergency support, and counselling.
HarperCollins UK CEO, Charlie Redmayne said: ‘I’m delighted that through this year’s News Corp Giving we are helping three brilliant charities that are supporting the future of writing, something clearly close to home for HarperCollins and our News colleagues. All power to the three chosen charities, and we look forward to hearing more of their work in the coming months.’
Ingrid Verschuren, EVP, general manager of EMEA, Dow Jones, notes: "This year's theme 'Supporting the Future of Writing' carries significant weight as we continue to lobby for the release of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich. In an increasingly dangerous environment for journalists, it is more important than ever to champion and defend freedom of the press. We are proud to support this crucial work through News Corp Giving and look forward to seeing the impact of our donations over the coming months, as we use every opportunity to raise awareness for Evan's plight."
Daisy Dunlop, EVP, director of corporate affairs, News UK, comments: “With quality writing at the core of our business, this year we chose a theme which helps solidify its future. The chosen charities work with early-year development here in the UK and established journalists in the field in the Arab World, which as a business we are immensely proud to support.”
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