1st October 2024
Podcasts teach more than you expect 🤔
Hello everyone,
As our name suggests, the Shine School Media Awards is open to all kinds of student publishing. Increasingly we’re seeing blended media, with digital publications often combined with student podcasts.
Planning. Researching. Writing. Discussing. Recording. Editing. Sharing.
So many incredibly useful skills can be learned in the process of making podcasts. They are among the most popular part of today’s media landscape covering every topic, catering to every audience. In this increasingly fluid environment, building experience now in podcasting would be invaluable for students.
Factual. Fiction. One off. Series. Solo project. Group endeavour.
What topic or medium should students choose? All of these are valid, with a huge range of possibilities. Freedom of expression is at their heart of all of these, but a potential audience should always be considered, championed or indeed carved out with a new, brilliant idea.
Podcast clubs.
At a school visit this summer, I noticed a poster for a school podcast club. That school had the luxury of recording equipment to offer students. That’s unusual. In fact we’re championing podcasts because where such resources don’t exist, creating them on a phone or laptop is easy. Podcasts can be made on free software such as Audacity, or if you have Apple tech, GarageBand. For the beginner, YouTube tutorials exist to master trickier skills such as the edit and how to go about sharing the podcasts.
An inspiring character
This year, Shine’s podcast award is given even further kudos by being renamed in honour of a legendary broadcaster. Peter Day appeared across ITV and the BBC in the course of an illustrious career. I got to know Peter when he served on the Shine committee until his passing in 2023. He loved the competition and championed students and their creativity. Whether on radio or during our planning meetings, his was an instantly-recognisable, thoughtful voice of authority and calm, one which our Shine students benefited from time and again. We are thrilled his name will continue to be associated with the awards.
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Even if your school media project is a glimmer of an idea today, remember that once it’s complete, entering is free and easy. Just register with us and we can provide guidance and encouragement from now til our entry deadline next May.
We’re on your side to help your project from planning to completion, so if you have questions about your entry for the Shine School Media Awards 2025, just drop us a line at shine@stationers.org
Til next time,
Richard
Chair of Shine