LONDON - 7 March 2007 - 440 words
Writing
competition for budding Catholic reporters
The Plater Trust working with
the Catholic Education Service is offering students the chance
to create a newspaper in real time. Prizes in this new competition
will enable winning schools to help educate and empower young
people in their communities in Sierra Leone and Liberia, West
Africa.
'Just News"' encourages students in Catholic schools and
colleges to investigate themes of social justice, peace and development
as well as reporting the main news of the day. Working in conjunction
with the competition Newsday, which has been run by the Times
Educational Supplement for almost 20 years, Just News enables
students to get a sense of the newsroom dynamic and will inspire
budding journalists who otherwise might not have the chance to
experience news-making.
"
Oona Stannard, Chief Executive and Director of the CES said: 'By
choosing themes such as living simply, energy and nuclear power,
recycling of waste, and community diversity, the competition encourages
young people to develop their critical thinking about a range
of current issues, to link them to the Church's Social Teaching,
and to write about them for their newspaper's readership."
The Plater Trustees gave the idea of Just News the go-ahead as
a way of sustaining Fr Charles Plater's visionary promotion of
Catholic Social Teaching while they await the report of the Steering
Committee set up to advise them on the next steps for the Trust.
Danny Curtin, Chair of the Young Christian
Workers and a member of the Steering Committee, said he was 'delighted'
that the Committee was able to use a small amount of the ring-fenced
fund to encourage young people to examine their commitment to
justice, development and peace.
Winners in each of the three age categories: 11-14, 14-16 and
16-19, will receive £1,000 for their school or college to
donate specifically to support CAFOD's work with young people
in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and £250 for the school to
use for a purpose related to Catholic Social Teaching. The runners-up
in each category will receive £500 and £125 for the
same uses and all prize winners will receive a plaque for their
school. An awards ceremony will take place at the House of Commons
in June 2007.
For more information see: www.cesew.org.uk.
© Independent Catholic
News 2007
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