Final Report
This year, a group of us have been chosen to create our own news stories for the BBC School Report. Over the past month, we have been meeting after school once a week to discuss ideas and film short clips on issues such as stereotypes and the misrepresentation of youths in the media. Around twenty first and second years were selected for their creativity and motivation demonstrated in English.
During our first meeting, we discussed several possible topics; ageism, stereotyping youths and some global issues. We eventually decided to focus on the stereotyping of youths, as this concerns us and our everyday lives. The second week was much the same, but we also auditioned and voted for people to film our main topic with for the BBC School Report.
A few people auditioned, but the majority of the votes went to Julia and Callum, both of whom are second years, and Gemma who is in first year. We went to film with the BBC the following Tuesday. We met up with Ian Hamilton, a reporter for Good Morning Scotland and a camera man. At first we thought we would only be doing a professional radio programme, but then Ian arranged for the camera man to come, so we ended up doing both. That day we filmed the interview with Scottish champion quad-biker Andrew and recorded for the radio. It was very stressful, and not as glamorous as we thought it would be, requiring a lot of patience and perseverance against the Scottish elements.
The next day, the rest of us met up again to film our short clips on stereotyping. We did the same the next week too as it took longer than anticipated. There were three groups; one focusing on teenage pregnancy, another on technology and the last on gang-culture. They were really fun to film and it was one of our favourite moments.
Today we are typing up some of today’s news headlines. We are using our own words, and only choosing the stories that interest us. We have been working hard since nine o’clock, and I hope the end results are rewarding. Overall, it was a very stressful though fun experience. Will I do it again next year? Yes.
Reported by Julia and Sofia