About
The Racing Media Academy was devised after broadcaster and entrepreneur Josh Apiafi, identified a barrier to getting new diverse talent into the horse racing media.
Following an interview on Sky in January 2021, where Josh called for the sport to increase its equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), the media has a strong roll to play in this. He was able to bring together racing’s leading media organisations to look at the feasibility of creating British racing’s first ever, free to attend, Media Academy.
Josh, along with his team of associates, worked hard to build the concept and gather support, funding the project personally, before applying for a grant from the Racing Foundation to help launch the project. In October 2021 funding was granted to create a ‘pilot’ for The Racing Media Academy; to be held at The British Racing School in April 2020.
The Racing Media Academy is part of the Non-Yard Based Career Pathway into horse racing; for those people who love the idea of working in racing but can’t necessarily, or don’t want to ride horses. The Racing Media Academy gives its students the opportunity for work experience and training within racing’s top media houses. An intensive week’s training has been designed at The British Racing School, where students will get an insight into the world of horse racing and learn about the different areas of the media. This means that those who don’t know very much about horse racing but have a passion for the media or those passionate about racing with no media experience could still apply.
The ambition is to increase diversity across racing’s media by creating a pathway for talent that is reflective of today’s society. The pilot has gained the support of several organisations that work with young people from a variety of different backgrounds. This was a strategic plan to help spread the message about the academy and open the opportunity up to everyone, no matter what background, religion, race, culture, sexuality or disability. These supporting organisations can all be found on our supporter’s page.
The 2022 and 2023 Racing Media Academys were huge successes, with many of the 23 cadets now employed by racing’s media. Please see the Class of ’22 and Class of ’23 pages to hear the feedback from the newly promoted ambassadors.
The Racing Media Academy is accessible to anyone over the age of 18 and is entirely free with a paid placement. When applying you can send a CV, a video, examples of social media campaigns you may have done or a piece of journalistic writing you have written. The most important section is to tell us why you want a place on the Racing Media Academy. What has inspired you to apply?
Applications for the 2024 course open on the 1st November, 2023. You can apply using the application process through this website.
