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Shropshire Welcomes Young Journalists
by Marc Leverton
Sep 15, 2008
Positive News Issue 57 |
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Young people from all over the country were recently invited by Positive News to enter a competition. The prize was a unique opportunity to spend a week at The Hurst, a training centre for aspiring writers, run by The Arvon Foundation, in the heart of the Shropshire countryside.
The 15 youngsters, aged between 17 and 23 years, came to English playwright John Osborne’s old house looking to learn about journalism. Not just run of the mill reporting, we would be looking at making a difference and covering positive stories.
I felt very privileged to be asked as a tutor on the course. My experience of working for The Big Issue and Society Guardian must have marked me out from other journalists – many of whom would find the words ‘positive’ and ‘news’ difficult to comprehend in the same breath.
The other tutor for the course would be Susan Elderkin, travel journalist and author of The Voices. We were also joined for an evening by Leo Hickman, the ex-Environment editor for The Guardian and author of The Final Call. Leo told us all about his life as a journalist and wowed us with his professionalism.
Arriving on August bank holiday, we all found lots of space and greenery – but no internet, no emails, no mobile phone reception and no television. How were we going to survive the week?
We quickly settled down to a routine of writing, discussing and reading our work out loud to each other. This was a brave undertaking by the fledgling writers but it was necessary to build confidence and understanding that everyone has a unique take on life.
The stories ranged from reviews and interviews to opinion pieces and reflections of travel. The opinion pieces proved very popular. This was clearly a group of people who had something to say.
The group showed little fear in tackling subjects as diverse as Big Brother, sustainability issues, growing up on a council estate, annoying siblings, breakfast and even an embarrassing accident in a pair of Speedos!
We pondered on the important issues affecting the planet or affecting young people. We noticed how we all have different abilities to make each other think – but mostly we laughed. The students then assembled a magazine and called it Lime. The name was a good compromise because they did not want it to be just about ‘green’ issues.
One of the great things about working with young people is that you notice how quickly they are able to pick up new information and skills. As our deadlines approached, laptops were pulled out and memory sticks thrown around the room.
If there is just one factor that should secure our trust in a positive future, it is the youth of today. Smart, intelligent and savvy – personally I am optimistic knowing the future is in their hands.
Positive News would like to thank and acknowledge Global News Education Trust, The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, The Batty Charitable Trust and The Arvon Foundation for their support and help with this project.
Participants celebrate their week on the course. Photo: © Abi Dakin
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