Toby Craven, 17 year old student from Norfolk, is one of the twenty young journalists selected to join the News Academy Summer School this August. Here is his blog about the unique experience:

As we 20 young hopefuls on the News Academy Summer School have been finding out, there’s a lot more to producing a newspaper than meets the eye. We have been briefed on every aspect of journalism and making a paper – be it the necessity of sub-editing, the importance of protecting your sources, or how to make the contacts who will give you exclusives.

Apart from learning from top journalists, we’ve been spending the week sourcing stories for our own paper, The Edge. Our aim is to prove to young people that tabloids are still a great source of news. By Friday, we’ll have a completed tabloid, to be distributed to schools, MPs, and other journalists.

I’ve been interested in journalism ever since I could read a newspaper, and the Summer School has given me a precious glimpse of three world-class titles – The Times, The Sunday Times, and The Sun – do it. The News UK brand has also provided unprecedented access to a number of events, such as being behind the scenes at the Emirates, and interviews with Andy Burnham and Tess Daly.

The News Academy Summer School is an unparalleled chance to understand how a paper is made, from some of the best in the business. I’d recommend any aspiring journalist to apply.

More information about the Summer School here.

More information about the News Academy here.