The notion of a formal mentoring scheme cuts across the informality of newsrooms, where “coaching” may once have meant little more than a few gruff words hurled at a junior who has just made a mistake. Introducing such a scheme also faces the hurdle presented by upheaval in the industry.

The skill set required of journalists is changing, and in some areas younger staff are likely to have a surer sense of new media than their senior colleagues. The value of experience may be further devalued as young staff see career structures collapsing. Why take advice from someone who got their experience during a time of certainty?

This presentation examines the challenge of introducing a mentoring scheme to a weekly newspaper at a time of such change. It describes a project that drew on the experience of introducing a similar scheme to a provincial daily some four or five years earlier. How did the schemes fare?