THE Irish News’ award-winning media project for schools has returned with thousands of pupils now looking forward to eight weeks of bespoke newspapers and literacy content.
The Young News Readers project is aimed at 8 to 14-year-olds (Key Stage 2 and 3) and last year involved over 6,000 pupils from 130 schools across Ireland as well as England, Spain and Dubai.
With a new theme and newspaper every week, articles written just for pupils have previously included interviews about health and navigating social media with Olympic athletes, Oscar-winner James Martin as well as features making sense of local and international news.
The latest campaign also picked up the best publication accolade at the Northern Ireland CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) PRide Awards.
With the aim of empowering pupils to access, understand, analyse and participate in the news – judges praised the initiative as: “A highly innovative campaign to connect with the next generation of readers by encouraging participation and actively engaging them in the publication. Clear objectives and measurement created a well-rounded campaign.”
IntoMedia chief marketing officer Annette McManus commented at the time of the award: “We’re delighted the Young News Readers project has scooped the gold award for best publication and is recognised among some of the best marketing campaigns across Northern Ireland.
“As the highest accolade in the communications industry, this achievement will only strengthen the integrity of this literacy project further.”
She added: “I’m hugely grateful for the support of the schools, teachers and pupils who participate in the project, and our sponsors who support the campaign each year.”
Sponsorship for this year’s project includes EY, St Mary’s University, Colin Glen and Belfast Zoo.
For more information and to register interest for 2024, visit irishnews.com/ynr
