Students show they have the write stuff

Budding journalists of the future were honoured yesterday at the inaugural awards ceremony for an educational project devised by the National Newspapers of Ireland.

The NNI’s Press Pass project saw 16 national newspaper titles distributed free over a two-week period to over 250 schools involving 14,500 transition-year students.

The competition attracted 850 entries, with the overall award of the 2012 NNI Press Pass Journalist of the Year being won by Fiachra Ó Braonáin of Coláiste Cois Life in Lucan, Co Dublin, for articles on property developers and juvenile GAA.

Other category winners were Helen McLoughlin of St Mary’s Secondary School, Ballina, Co Mayo, (news); Greta Ryan, Our Lady of Lourdes Secondary School, New Ross, Co Wexford (comment & opinion); Sinead Kenny, St Mary’s Secondary School, Ballina, Co Mayo (features); Ann Marie Torsney, Loreto College, Swords, Co Dublin (sport); and Niamh Hogan, Coláiste Choilm, Ballincollig, Co Cork (photojournalism).

The winning entries will be distributed in a booklet to all secondary schools with a transition-year programme.

NNI chairman Matt Dempsey said the Press Pass initiative allowed students to take advantage of all the educational resources that newspapers have to offer, while also supporting various government literacy programmes.

Mr Dempsey, editor of the Irish Farmers Journal, said there was strong evidence from past studies to show that students who read newspapers performed better at school.

“Newspapers invest in quality journalism and in original, high-quality material in a way that other media do not,” said Mr Dempsey.

He expressed hope that the Press Pass programme would foster a strong relationship with the next generation of newspaper readers.

Mr Dempsey also praised Irish Examiner news editor John O’Mahony for his work on developing the Press Pass workbook, distributed to schools to facilitate a critical analysis of newspaper content.

The Press Pass initiative was highly commended by the industry’s international representative body, the World Association of Newspapers, as an example of how newspapers can play a key role in enhancing the lives of today’s digitally-accomplished youth.

The NNI also announced it is developing a journalism/media studies module for post-primary students in collaboration with Coláiste Chiaráin in Croom, Co Limerick. A trial will take place in September. It is hoped such a programme will be made available as part of the junior cycle curriculum from Sept 2014.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who presented the awards in Dublin’s Convention Centre, said the NNI initiative would help students to develop analytical skills and stimulate social awareness.

Transition-year programme national co-ordinator Michael O’Leary said the response to Press Pass was “unprecedented”, with almost 50% of schools and transition-year students involved.