Barnie Choudhury, David Baines







We are the champions: Mentors ease newcomers into the net

This chapter examines the initial stages of a mentoring project established between third-year journalism undergraduates and early-career media workers. Using concepts of social capital (Coleman 1988, Putnam 2000) and of the strength of weak ties (Lin 1988, Granovetter 2005) it explores the possibility of mentors 'championing' mentees to extend workforce diversity by developing in groups hitherto excluded from the field social capital necessary to gain access. The chapter also interrogates notions of obligation and risk that are inherent in 'mentoring as championing' and considers how these factors may be taken into account in developing best practice.

Keywords: journalism undergraduates, media workers, mentoring, obligation, risk


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