De Montfort student journalists drive city news agenda

Student journalists on NCTJ-accredited courses at De Montfort University will be part of a special news day to celebrate the launch of Leicester Media School.

They are among students from three undergraduate year-groups and post-graduates who will spend Wednesday, 5 November finding, writing and publishing stories that will appear instantly across a range of platforms.

Their work will also be shared with the Leicester Mercury to publish via its online site and in print, as well as with The Demon, the DMU student newspaper.

Students will drive the news agenda all day filing stories from across Leicester – from off-diary gems to scheduled press conferences, court and council meetings.

Journalism lecturers – who all have senior editorial experience – will guide students who are appointed as news editors.

LCJ director John Dilley said: “This is a unique opportunity for all four year-groups to work together helping each other and learning from each other.

“It’s also a great opportunity for them to experience the adrenaline rush of meeting tight deadlines and publishing real-world stories that will appear on digital and print platforms.

“We know that the basis of great reporting is getting out there, talking to people and finding out their stories.

“We’re looking forward to reading the stories they bring in and it will be a real boost to them to see their work online and in print.”

Some students will get an interview with Terry Bamber, assistant director on the previous six Bond films and who is now working on the Man from UNCLE reboot with Henry Cavill and Hugh Grant.

Others will be covering sports stories, politics and entertainment, while some will be put on the campus beat filing stories from the university.