The 2017 Sky Bob Friend Scholarship will be presented to this year's winner at the annual Sky Bob Friend Memorial Lecture. This will take place in the Dockyard Church at 7pm on Thursday 2nd March.

This year's lecturer will be Ed Conway, Economics Editor at Sky News and Times columnist.The crucial question now is: to whom will he present the prize? We (Sky News and the CfJ) will decide via the usual competitve process.

How does it work? We'll explain all in a briefing to be held in the main newsroom at 1300 on Tuesday 17th January. Please attend. This is a unique and immensely valuable opportunity open to all undergraduate students in the Centre. The winner will spend a month long, fully funded placement at Sky News. They will also receive a £3,000 contribution to their tuition fees.Beyond these rewards there is, of course, the prestige and glory of being a member of the tiny and highly select band of Sky Bob Friend Scholars.

Following the briefing, the deadline for submissions will be Friday February 10th. Shortlisted contestants will travel to London for the final selection interviews which will take place at Sky' Millbank studios in Westminter on Friday 17th February. Come to the briefing. All will be explained.

Fiona – Fi – Glover will visit the Centre on Monday 13 February 2017. She will speak about her career and answer questions in the main newsroom at 1pm. Fi is an award winning presenter of BBC network radio shows, fellow of the Radio Academy and founder of Sound Women – a lobbying and networking group for women in the audio industries.Fi is also a Kent graduate. She studied Classical Civilisation and Philosophy between 1987 and 1990. In July 2016 she was awarded an honorary doctorate at our graduation ceremony in Rochester Cathedral.

The Economist is seeking two social media fellows (interns). These are paid positions (£2,000 per month) and Adnan Sarwar, assistant community editor at The Economist, tells me that 'there will be no making of tea unless they want one themselves'. He adds that he started his career with the famous title as an intern. You can find all the details at www.economist.com/social-media-fellowship .Note that you will need to make yourself very familiar with newspaper to have a realistic chance of success. The effort will be worth it. This would be a superb place to start a career in serious journalism.  I encourage you to apply. The Economist is a truly great title and has been for a very long time. It features prominently in my recent research into newspaper coverage of the doctrine of unconditional surrender between 1943 and 1945...but of course you knew that already....