A top politician has heaped praise on our News Academy programme to help wannabe journalists.

Speaking at our latest conference in News UK’s Glasgow Guildhall offices yesterday (Tuesday), Scotland Tory leader Ruth Davidson paid tribute to the CSR scheme.

She told 130 students at the conference: “I give an absolute tribute to News UK for running the Academy. They are one of the few companies investing in journalism.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity that News UK is giving. You can hear, taste and smell journalism here. It is the best job you will ever have.”

Dunfermline football fan Davidson, formerly a print and radio journalist for 10 years, added in her keynote speech: “You can change people’s lives. You can make a huge difference.

“It’s a great job, but it’s a tough job with long hours. In fact it’s not a job, it’s a trade and a vocation.”
The conference – which saw the launch of News Academy Scotland – also featured a panel debate on citizen journalism, break-out sessions with leading journalists and a mock police press conference.

News Academy Scotland is looking to use copy from students in our titles, provide work experience opportunities and see staff going into schools, colleges and universities to help with the youngsters’ coursework.

Our Scotland general manager Richard Bogie said: “Journalism is a fascinating, ever-changing career. That is what makes it so exciting.

“It’s never been more important to tell the big stories. We will give the most talented, most deserving and the hungriest an opportunity.”

In the panel debate, The Scottish Sun deputy editor Alan Muir said: “The digital age has transformed the way we go about gathering news.”

New Sun Editor Tony Gallagher said: “Most of what you do should be online as quickly as possible. It’s up to you to provide news in a timely fashion. It’s vital for journalists to have cross-media skills. Citizen journalism is a useful device, but only useful if it’s correct.”

Muir added: “We have to be more prudent than ever before. All eyes are on us. We have a duty of care to our readers. You wouldn’t let a citizen doctor take your spleen out.”

The Times Scotland political editor Lindsay McIntosh said: “Social media makes politicians more accessible.” Davidson said: “I was encouraged to use Twitter and I love it. It gives an immediacy to people.”

Gallagher and Muir also took part in break-out sessions where they were quizzed by students about their careers. Also answering questions were The Scottish Sun Editor Gordon Smart, The Sunday Times Scotland Editor Jason Allardyce, The Times Scotland edition Editor Les Snowdon, The Scottish Sun deputy head of content Lynn Kernan, The Scottish Sun sports writer Gareth Law, The Sunday Times Scotland columnist and feature writer Gillian Bowditch, The Times Scotland edition reporter Gabriella Bennett and The Scottish Sun reporter Christine Lavelle.

Scottish SunSport’s Law told the students: “The key to it is experience, experience, experience. Get experience at whatever level.”

Former Sun graduate trainee Law, a Geography grad and originally from South Wales, has been with Scottish SunSport for 13 years and mainly covers football. He has also reported on three Commonwealth Games and an Olympics.

The conference ended with a mock police press conference with our intranet editor Neal Harrington playing the role of a detective superintendent leading the investigation into the death of a 27-year-old man in a luxury block of flats.

Students quizzed the detective before writing up their stories. Winner of a Google Nexus 7 for the best story headline was 24-year-old HND Journalism student at Glasgow Clyde College, Jon Brady. His winning headline was: Footy ace Tom found dead ‘at the peak of his fame’.

Brady commented about the conference: “It was really, really good.”