Press Club winners will receive training opportunities.
Leading regional newspapers, magazines and radio stations are backing a Birmingham Press Club awards scheme that aims to recognise the talent of the next-generation of journalists, photographers and broadcasters in the Midlands.
The awards, scheduled to take place next spring as part of the Press Club’s 150th anniversary celebrations, are already being supported by academic establishments throughout the East and West Midlands. Now senior editors have endorsed the project by offering internships to winners of the scheme’s twelve categories.
Marc Reeves, Editor-in-Chief of Trinity Mirror’s titles in the Midlands, including the Birmingham Post, Birmingham Mail, Coventry Telegraph and Sunday Mercury, is to provide a six-week internship to the overall winner of the Student Journalist of the Year accolade, during which time the company will also pay a basic wage and work related expenses.
Mr Reeves said: “The winner will work in our multimedia newsroom, writing for all of our news brands, engaging with a range of tools such as live blogging, video and social media.”
Other one week internships have been promised by Keith Harrison, Editor of Wolverhampton-based Express and Star, the country’s biggest-selling regional newspaper; Gary Phelps, editor of The Tamworth Herald; Peter John, editor of Worcester News (voted Midlands Newspaper of the Year in 2010), Vicky Breakwell, group head of news at Orion Media, who runs the news operations for Free Radio in the West Midlands and Gem 106 in Nottingham and Nick Jewers, head of news at Quidem Midlands Ltd, which operates radio stations in the Warwickshire/Oxfordshire area.
Gary Newby, News Editor at ITV News Central, is providing a three-day internship while business magazine BQ West Midlands is offering the chance to research and write one of its 1,600-word three-page interviews.
In the East Midlands internships are being offered by Neil White, editor of the Derby Telegraph (winner of the 2014 Midlands Newspaper of the Year), Graham Coley, founder and station manager of Leicester-based Takeover Radio; Andy Darlington, editor of Taste the Seasons, Derbyshire’s food and drink magazine; Amanda Penman, editor of Artsbeat, Derbyshire’s free arts magazine, Ben Green, editor of the Worksop Guardian and Daniel Ionescu, publisher of digital Lincolnshire Business and website The Lincolnite.
Press Club chairman Ed James said: “For well over a decade, the Midlands Media Awards has been an important part of the Club’s calendar, acknowledging the achievements of top journalists, broadcasters and photographers. Now we are pleased to be able to highlight the exciting blend of new talent that is emerging from journalism and media courses – talent that augurs well for the future of regional journalism.”
He added: “A spin-off from the Midlands Media Awards, now in their 14th year, the Student Awards will recognise the progress and achievements of next-generation media stars developing their skills via the fantastic range of journalism courses now being offered by universities and colleges in the region.
“The support we have had from publications, TV and radio offering internships has been simply superb,” he added.
“In the past, a Students and Newcomers category has always featured as part of the Midlands Media Awards. However, the time is now right for the Press Club to take a further step forward and create a special ‘Oscars’ event for the legions of talent now beginning to make their presence felt in what is becoming an increasingly diverse industry.
“My sincere thanks go to universities and colleges in the Midlands for supporting our awards – and may I also say “good luck” to everyone who takes part.”
Entries for twelve categories, encompassing topics such as business, sport, entertainment, fashion, lifestyle and technology, are now open. Judging will be completed by early February. Full details of the Awards, organised by Cloud 9 Events Management on behalf of the Press Club, are available by logging onto www.midlandsmediaawards.co.uk
The inaugural Midlands Media Student Awards will take place in Birmingham next March. Meanwhile, plans are also going ahead for next year’s Midlands Media Awards, entries for which open in the New Year.