Pencils down! The Walkley Foundation has announced it will be offering scholarships to journalists to learn coding to help their careers (but presumably not just skill them up to leave the profession).

Saying the skill would open up new storytelling possibilities to journalists, the foundation is offering up to 10 full scholarships for a course in coding.

“It can be almost impossible to afford to learn to code, especially if you’re in a junior or even mid-tier editorial role. It’s hard to teach yourself, and decent courses that take you from newbie to fully fledged app builder cost thousands,” the website says.

“Our goal is to empower people in our industry develop the skills they need to survive and thrive in the future. While the recipients will graduate with the basic skills needed to begin exploring another career, our hope is they remain in the news industry to share the benefits of this investment with their colleagues and especially their audience.”

The scholarship is offered by the foundation and the Coder Factory Academy, and the course will be offered over 10 weeks in both Sydney and Melbourne. — Emily Watkins