UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 17 APRIL 2018
Media and English students have collectively helped Birmingham City University receive the Uni News ‘most read university’ award for March 2018.
Uni News is a website containing articles written by students for students. The aim of the website is to provide students with a platform to create an online portfolio they can use to send to future employers, which will help to propel them into the world of journalism after graduation.
As well as providing a real-world opportunity for students to develop their writing skills, the website also adds an element of competition between students across the UK, in a bid to recognise undiscovered talent. Students will compete against each other for the ‘most reads’ on an article, with Birmingham City University having six students in the top 10 last month.
Students are given the freedom to write about their interests and passions, however before the stories are published on the website, they will be checked by a member of the Uni News team to ensure the content is interesting and well-written. Each story that is published by a student will get them closer to achieving their next editorial badge. The first story published on the site will get you the ‘writer’ badge. To earn the next badge for ‘senior writer’ students will need to have 10 stories published, 20 stories for ‘sub-editor’ and 50 for the final ‘editor’ badge.
Students were introduced to the opportunity through Birmingham City University’s Employability Adviser, Nicola Kelly, who commented, “The experience our students have been able to gain working as Editorial Interns for Uni News has been invaluable to their professional development, with many of them publishing their work online and some even winning awards! Real-world opportunities like this prepare our students to be leaders in the graduate market and are the reason placements are a key part of what we offer here at Birmingham City University.”
Editor at Uni News, Lisa Williams, got in touch with Birmingham City University earlier this month to inform of the award. Uni News will later present the Most Read University trophy as well as the Most Read Writer trophy to School of Media student, Maja Perzanowska. Lisa commented
"Uni News is a platform packed full of news stories written by students for students. Students at BCU can use Uni News as a place to get their voice heard. They can seize the opportunity to enhance their CV, and to create an online portfolio which will help to propel them into the exciting world of journalism. Uni News also gives students the opportunity to get involved with a monthly competition between other students and universities across the UK. We reward the most read writer and the most read university each month. BCU students from the School of Media and the School of English have been producing exceptional content for Uni News. As a result of their hard work and talent, BCU won an award in March for being the most read university in the UK that month. We have been really impressed with the Media and English students from BCU, not only because of their writing skills but because of their professionalism in the workplace."
Winner of the March 2018 Most Read Writer award, Maja, has a total of over 1,300 reads on her articles and has achieved the gold Sub-Editor badge for having over 20 stories published on the website. Maja commented on her experience,
To find out more about writing for Uni News, visit: www.uni.news/write-a-story.