Member Article

OPR scoops digital talent

Aspiring young journalists from around the region have been given the opportunity to experience what it’s like working in a multimedia news environment thanks to our latest new project.

OPR recruited a student content team to work alongside our digital content studio and the Northern Design Festival event team this year to operate a live virtual press office of streamed content.

Students from Northumbria and Sunderland University journalism and communications degrees were given the opportunity to work alongside us to interview some of the UK’s hottest new design talent and see their work including video news, blog posts and features used online and in print.

Northumbria University journalism student Alexe Gunn was one of our student digital content crew. She said: “I’m so glad to have been given the opportunity to work in the content team for the Northern Design Festival.

“Covering the events, interviewing speakers and taking images and video has significantly improved my confidence as a reporter, and I’ve gained an invaluable insight into how events like this are promoted on social channels. It’s been great to get my work published which will be a fantastic addition to my portfolio.”

Our digital content studio director Robin Owers said: “Developing future talent to understand the realities of working in media and PR now includes a raft of skills required from video interviewing and editing, to writing for social media or blogs is something is something we heavily support at OPR as we are keen to advocate a work-ready talent pool.

“When the Northern Design festival came to us to sponsor the festival with content services, and we saw this year’s theme of Create:Digital, we thought this would be a great way to get local students on board to flex their skills and to experience being part of a real life PR agency environment.

“The student applications came flooding in and we managed to recruit some top writing talent and videographers. The team generated several video clips, blog posts and images from different events across Tyne & Wear that were uploaded onto the festival’s blog and social channels.”

To read the students’ work, visit the Northern Design Festival Blog at www. http://design-eventblog.blogspot.co.uk/

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by O Communications .