NewsBrands hold ‘Pop-Up’ newsrooms for secondary school students at Kinsale event
Groups of secondary school students from three Cork schools had the opportunity to pitch news stories to an newspaper editor and learn about the art of photojournalism at the PPAI Big Picture Festival which took place in Kinsale on October 20th.
Grainne McGuinness, Editor of The Echo and EchoLive.ie, Dan Linehan, Chief Photographer with the Irish Examiner, David Branigan, President of the PPAI, and Lisa Buckley from NewsBrands Ireland, hosted workshops for students from YouthReach Mahon, Kinsale Community School, and Ursuline College Blackrock.
The ‘Pop-Up Newsrooms’ are part of NewsBrands Ireland’s Press Pass student journalism and news literacy programme and their aim is to promote news literacy and encourage students to think critically about how news is published. The interactive workshop allowed students to pitch their own news stories to the journalists and through this process they learned the importance of truth, accuracy, and objectivity in responsible journalism. The workshops included discussion on disinformation, AI and Journalism, and how young people are represented in the media.
The workshop also covered the art of photojournalism and students and members of the public had the opportunity to view an exhibition of PPAI award winning photos during the Big Picture Festival . Photographer Dan Linehan presenting a show delving into the Irish Examiner’s picture archive, which contains a treasure trove of photographs dating back over a century.
Speaking about the workshop, Deirdre Kelly, teacher with Kinsale Community School, said: ‘ This was a fantastic opportunity for students and had real appeal to those interested in photography and journalism. Having a workshop from a photojournalist provided our students with great insight into the inner workings of journalism. Students learned how photojournalists work and gather the images we see everyday in the news, how to use a smartphone to the best of its ability to capture their own imagery, and how images must be captured in an ethical way for the news”.
For more details on NewsBrands Ireland’s Press Pass programme, visit here.
