Warwickshire News Mine

The five youngsters are the winners of Warwickshire County Council’s Young Journalist of the Year competition.

More than 50 budding young journalists aged 10 to 19 from across the county entered the competition, writing, recording and even videoing their own special reports.

The theme for the competition, which was run as part of the county council’s annual Local Democracy Campaign, was the environment.

The winning young journalists who will take over at BBC Coventry & Warwickshire are:

• Rebecca Guice of Alveston C of E Primary School in Stratford-upon-Avon, who won for her report on Warwickshire schools and recycling.

• Daniel Maher of St. Marie’s Catholic Junior School in Rugby, for his report on global warming.

• Andrew Ballantyne of Alcester High School Technology College, for his report on human influence on the environment.

• Amber-Jayne Barras of Manor Park Community School and Specialist Arts College in Nuneaton, for her report on litter and vandalism.
• Thomas Venus of King Edward VI College in Nuneaton for his report on rubbish and the environment.

On Monday, the young journalists will visit the radio station’s studios in Priory Place, Coventry and meet the production team, getting the chance to discuss their ideas for the Breakfast show.

Later on in the week, they’ll work on preparing and setting up for the one hour slot, before producing the final hour of the Breakfast show on Friday (11th April).
There was a high standard of entries to this year’s Young Journalist Competition on subjects including climate change, recycling, graffiti, pollution and even the destruction of the rainforest. Teachers were asked to short-list submissions from their schools.

A panel of judges including Councillor John Burton, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Schools, Councillor Richard Grant, Chair of the Children, Young People and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and Councillor Jill Dill-Russell, also a member of the committee, decided on the winning entries.

Councillor Richard Grant said: “The Local Democracy Campaign is all about taking part and taking power, and we have actively encouraged young people to do just that and air their opinions on issues that they care about.

“There was a very high standard of entries this year, which made judging really tough – but we think the winners thoroughly deserve the title of Young Journalist of the Year and we hope they enjoy their time at BBC Coventry & Warwickshire.”

David Clargo, Managing Editor of BBC Coventry and Warwickshire, said: "We are very much looking forward to welcoming the winners to BBC Coventry and Warwickshire. I’m sure their ideas will make for some very interesting radio output next Friday."

Link to WCC