Students from St Thomas More School in Bedford were given a taste of life in a national newsroom when they spent a day at The Guardian’s London headquarters, learning how a front page is created from scratch.
GCSE and A-level Media Studies students took part in a four-hour workshop, working to a strict 2pm deadline to research, write, design and “publish” their own newspaper front cover.
Learning what makes news
During the morning session, pupils were introduced to the basics of news values, including what makes a story newsworthy and how to write engaging, accurate copy for readers.
They were then presented with the day’s news wires, mirroring the information professional journalists receive as stories break.
Working in pairs, students had to decide which stories would make their front page, which angle to take, and which items would appeal most to their target audience.
Once their running orders were agreed, they spent the rest of the morning constructing and polishing their news reports to the deadline.
Head of Digital Communications and Media Studies, Film Studies and ICT, Tracey Treliving, said: “The workshop at the Guardian gave students a rare opportunity to apply their classroom learning in a real newsroom environment.
“From analysing news values to designing front pages under time pressure, they experienced the full production process. Meeting a professional deadline was a real achievement and demonstrated their growing confidence and skills.”
Headlines, standfirsts and picture choices
In the afternoon, the focus shifted to presentation and design.
Students were shown how sub-editors construct headlines and standfirsts to grab attention while remaining accurate, and how to trail other key stories on the front page to encourage readers to buy the paper.
They also took part in a picture editing exercise, choosing appropriate images from the Guardian’s extensive photo library that best communicated the stories they had selected.
As in a real newsroom, they had to balance impact, relevance and taste, while making sure photographs worked with their layout.
Every team met the 2pm print deadline and saw their front covers sent to press before leaving the building.
Student Isabella Zona said: “I did not realise how intense making a newspaper could be until we had to do it ourselves. Choosing stories, writing articles and designing the front page all in one day was challenging but really fun.
“It felt like we were proper journalists, especially when we finally went to print.”
