This summer, the SMF was delighted to offer five students an insight session at ITN, led by Robin Elias, Managing Editor of ITV News.

The students were given a tour of the newsroom and studios, where they watched a rehearsal for the Lunchtime News and met presenter Alastair Stewart. They then listened in on the director’s instructions as the programme was being broadcast.

The students also had a meeting with young journalists who talked about their route into the industry and offered career advice. The students had the chance to ask questions and also offer their own viewpoint on how news could be more appealing to young people.

“It was a really encouraging experience to see how friendly everyone in the industry was,” said SMF student Niall Slater.“The newsreaders were particularly entertaining to meet!” he added.

Robin Elias said: “It’s important for us to meet different people to hear what they think of the news we produce. The SMF group had interesting and diverse opinions, and provided us with useful feedback.”

The SMF hopes to be able to run a similar session in the future for students interested in pursuing a career in journalism. We would like to thank Robin Elias, Nathalie Austrie and Catriona Shingler at ITN for their support.