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First Year Student Sophie Takes Part in BBC ‘Young Reporter’ Competition

First Year Student Sophie Takes Part in BBC ‘Young Reporter’ Competition

What is the BBC’s Young Reporter Competition?

The BBC is encouraging young people to share the stories that matter to them, in the BBC Young Reporter Competition where 11-18 year olds to submit their ideas and work with the BBC to make their reports a reality.

They are looking for original and interesting stories that haven’t been told before. Young people have submitted their entries online as either text, video or audio – in one of the three-story categories: Me and my World, Uplifting, or Coronavirus. 

Entries will be considered on editorial merit, based on the strength of the story, originality, and the personal story or background surrounding it. Judges will be looking for a range of diverse stories from across the UK. Winners of the competition will be given the opportunity to work with BBC journalists, producers and programme makers to prepare their stories for broadcast by the BBC or either TV, radio, online or social media platforms.

The winners of the BBC Young Reporter Competition will be announced in March 2021. 

How did Sophie get involved with the BBC Young Reporter Competition?

Sophie entered the BBC Young Reporter Competition last year, unfortunately, she didn’t win. However, Sophie did get some great experiences and contacts from taking part. It was one of her contacts, the Head of the BBC Young Reporter competition who contacted Sophie and gave her the brief for this project where she had to record two to three voice notes during the lockdown.

Sophie also got to talk to the producer and see the script before the other BBC Young Reporters and was able to change parts of the script herself to ensure that it would appeal to young people and even changed some of the language that was originally scripted in.

Sophie’s aspiration

Sophie has the aspiration of becoming a TV presenter which is why she entered the competition last year and this year. She has also taken part in digital sound workshops by the BBC and looking for new ways to make her stories heard and gain experience in the process.

Sophie’s advice

“I would just like to say to fellow students that if you want to go into a certain career like Media then you should take all the opportunities that you can and gain experiences. Contacts are really important and will help you to get you onto the career path you want.”

What’s next for Sophie?

Sophie is continuing her passion for Media via her studies and continues to make more sound bites. We believe that Sophie will strive in her chosen field of work with the experience and contacts that she has gained by entering the ‘Young Reporter’ competition for the past two years as well as the digital sound workshops she’s undertaken with the BBC.

We are very proud of the intuition and dedication that Sophie has shown to her studies and for developing new skills in her own time. We cannot wait to see what she will do next!

If you want to hear more from Sophie herself, why not watch Sophie’s video below which explores her experience of the competition: