Future of journalism is in good hands!
PRESENTATION’S TRANSITION YEAR STUDENTS EXCEL IN NATIONAL JOURNALISM COMPETITION
THE future of journalism in Wexford is in strong hands after not one, but two, of our Secondary Schools were honoured in the Best Newspaper category at the annual NewsBrands Press Pass Competition last week.
Enniscorthy Vocational College’s paper, The Mill Post, was named second best in the country, while the The Presentation School in Wexford Town were placed third for their newsletter.
Journalism has been available as a module for Transition Year students at the Presentation for the past two years and, following their strong performance in the Press Pass competition, teacher Scott Gaynor explained how the course benefits students.
‘I think it’s a really worthwhile programme. We’ve linked up with Frank Jordan at Daybreak and they facilitate the delivery of the paper packs for the girls to work with.
‘There are several categories they can enter from sports journalism, opinion pieces, feature articles, interviews and photo journalism so there’s something for every interest in the class.’
Aoife Burke, was one of the student editors of the Newsletter,
and she was pleased with their place in the competition.
‘After choosing the module, it was great to learn about a lot of different aspects of the subject and we were given the opportunity to write the school’s newsletter that’s published for everyone. Nobody was left without a job and that made it so much easier to put together.’
Such has been the success of the module that some Transition Year students have used it to tie in with their work experience programme.
‘We’ve had a few girls show a genuine interest in working in this area with students taking up work experience placements with The People or at local radio stations,’ said Mr Gaynor.
‘It was through a similar module that I became interested in it when I was in TY and it gave me an in with local papers, radio stations and websites, so hopefully it hooks one or two of them and it encourages them to kick on with it.’
Cyan Doyle was one of the students who took this route, opting to pursue her interest in journalism with a work placement at Beat 102-103 radio.
‘It was a great experience getting to use the different software, meet the presenters and work in a studio, and I made some great friends there too,’ said Cyan.
With the industry constantly evolving, students at the Presentation were keen to explore new media. This led to them producing their own podcast, ‘Prescast’, which received more than 2,000 listens before it was cut short by the coronavirus.
Jessie Byrne was one of the presenters of Prescast and she spoke of the process invovlved in putting it all together.
‘It was really cool to get to try something like that. You get a picture of how much work goes into the preparation and editing of a show and even though we didn’t get as many out as we wanted this year, it was exciting putting something out there with your friends and going through the process.
‘Sarah Doyle ran it last year and she came and helped us and showed us the ropes so a big thanks to her.’
Aisling O’Sullivan was one of the most active sports reporters in the school, and she enjoyed getting out of the classroom and getting to do some real reporting.
‘It was great to get to go and do these things that you wouldn’t normally get the chance to. As well as going to the matches, we got to go up to RTÉ studios in Dublin and see what actually happens behind the cameras and that was really enjoyable.’