Standard Group Journalist Selected for Global Program by AFP

File image of Standard Group Plc's Mombasa Road Headquarters in Nairobi
File image of Standard Group Plc's Mombasa Road Headquarters in Nairobi
File

Standard Group reporter Hillary Orinde, 26, was among three journalists selected in a global trainee program by France-based News Agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Announcing the winners, the media agency stated that the chosen scribes were picked from more than 600 applications submitted for the London and Johannesburg schemes. 

"They will all be offered six-month contracts in 2021, which will be taking place in London and Johannesburg, and receive training in all aspects of AFP's news coverage," AFP noted in a press release.

Hillary Orinde, (left) Anna Mackenzie and Imran Marashli emerged winners of AFP's first trainee scheme for English-speaking journalists.
Hillary Orinde, (left) Anna Mackenzie and Imran Marashli emerged winners of AFP's first trainee scheme for English-speaking journalists.
AFP

Orinde is a sub-editor on the digital desk at Standard Group, Kenya. He doubles up as a fact-checker at the outlet's newly-launched fact-check desk that has been fighting the avalanche of misinformation around the coronavirus pandemic. 

The young journalist began his career at Standard Group as a multimedia trainee journalist in 2017 after graduating with a communications degree at Moi University where he served as editor-in-chief of the student newspaper.

Also selected in the program is Anna Mackenzie, 26, who studied French and Russian at Glasgow University, and spent extended periods of time living and working in France, Russia and Germany as a teacher, translator, copywriter and journalist.

In 2019, she moved to London to complete her NCTJ Diploma in multimedia journalism, and has had placements with two local London newspapers, as well as an internship with Sleek Magazine in Berlin. 

The third journalist is a graduate from the University of Cambridge, Imran Marashli who has had work experience with Sky News, The Times and news agency Sportsbeat, and was involved with student newspapers.

Since 2007, AFP has been running a similar program for francophone journalists, selecting the best students from journalism schools or young people and this is the first recruitment for English-speaking countries.

"We will be testing applicants' knowledge of international news in various fields, including general news, sports and economics, as well as their level of French, and their aptitude in video and social networks," the news agency stated.

 Agence France-Presse (AFP) headquarters in France.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) headquarters in France.
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AFP is the world's oldest news agency and one of the world's top three, behind the United Kingdom's Reuters and The Associated Press of the United States.

It operates and gathers news across 151 countries, with 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities. AFP covers the world in six languages, with a unique quality of multimedia storytelling spanning video, text, photos and graphics.

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