On 4 March, Rod Ardehali gave a keynote speech at a House of Lords reception for the Helena Kennedy Foundation, where he spoke to this year’s award winners about his career in journalism so far. Here, Rod talks about the event in his own words:

Helena Kennedy offers support to individuals from diverse and lower socio-economic backgrounds who have shown the potential to achieve real academic success (I was an award winner in 2012).

At last week’s event, I discussed my path – from trainee reporter at MailOnline where I covered everything from Brexit to major terror attacks, to being a news editor at Mail+ leading a newsdesk remotely during lockdown, to later leading newsdesks for Newsweek and now as a news editor for The Independent.

I highlighted my pride at helping with The Independent’s campaigns: The plight of the forgotten Afghan Triples, our award-winning coverage of the Gaza conflict, setting the national news agenda with our HS2 scoops, the Met’s failure to protect women and much more.

I also spoke about the difficulties of being a state educated, second generation immigrant in a largely white, middle and upper class industry and highlighted the work that journalism, along with other industries, must do to be fully inclusive.

To find out more about Helena Kennedy, please visit the website.