8th October 2024
Entering Shine could help your students’ careers
Hello everyone,
Standing out. Showing raw talent. Making an impact. We know the most talented students achieve this by hard work. Some manage to get ahead, but it’s far from universal.
The purpose of the Shine School Media Awards is to offer brilliant teenagers one more step on the ladder to success. We’re agnostic to the origin of this talent, our goal is to offer recognition and opportunity.
This week I want to tell you about Aashi, a student from Birmingham, who won our special award for Tomorrow’s Talent in 2023 for editing her school magazine, ‘The Beacon’. Her prize included work experience at ELLE magazine, which culminated in seeing her writing, about Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, published online.
Here’s Aashi’s report:
Winning the Terry Mansfield Award in 2023, for my work as editor for The Beacon, was a core highlight of my journalism journey. On top of that, being able to talk in front of all the budding media enthusiasts at the Shine Awards 2024, and provide an insight into my media highlights, was invaluable.
A week after speaking to students at Stationers’ Hall, I was back in London, but this time, my tube took me to Leicester Square. For four days, I navigated the glamorous office of Hearst Publishing, to complete my work experience with ELLE.
After spending a day venturing and working within the legal team, to broaden my understanding of business operations at Hearst, I spent my remaining time in the editorial department of ELLE. The experience was advertised to me last year as a Devil Wears Prada simulation: it’s safe to say it did not disappoint.
I spoke to industry experts across the editorial department, from content-generators, and social media marketing experts, to the artists piecing together next month’s front cover. The highlight of the experience for me was being sat alongside all the core editors at the magazine, and being able to share my creative visions with them. As a result of this, I was invited to do some writing of my own. My favourite part of the experience was writing my own OpEd on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
The experience of working at ELLE was truly unforgettable and has contributed to my passion for media and journalism in numerous ways. Being invited to see how magazine designing and content creation for such publications happens on such a large scale has truly transformed my understanding of the media industry.
I am excited about my future endeavours within the journalism industry, and am looking forward to seeing where this path leads me next!
Read Aashi’s article about the Eras Tour on ELLE’s website, here
If you want to help give your students the same opportunity as Aashi, why not register for the competition and set your students a challenge to come up with an outstanding school media project?
It might just mean they end up following in the footsteps of so many of our prize-winners, gaining valuable experience and opening their horizons to a future career in media.
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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