Young people produced their own magazine at Asia House
Young Reporters interview Kumiko Mendl, artistic director at Yellow Earth, during the Asia House Bagri Foundation Literature Festival
Young people produced their own magazine at Asia House
14 July 2014
A total of 10 ambitious young people in London took part in the Asia House Young Reporters outreach programme this year.
The teenagers, aged 13-15 from Islington and Newham boroughs, came to Asia House on two consecutive Saturdays in May during the Asia House Bagri Foundation Literature Festival. On the first Saturday, Sutish Sharma, Writer/Producer for film, TV and radio, based at Pinewood Studios; Ramita Tejpal, Managing Director and Editor, Asian Global Impact (AGI) Limited; and Naomi Canton, Web Editor at Asia House, spoke about how to become a journalist, how to interview people, the structure of stories and how to edit and produce a magazine.
On the second Saturday, the enthusiastic journalists reported on the Saturday family events, which were held during the Asia House Bagri Foundation Literature Festival and interviewed the performers, artists and storytellers that had come to entertain children aged over five.
They then wrote up their interview and stories, edited each other’s work and produced a magazine containing all their interviews and stories called Rising Sun. This is the second edition of the magazine which was produced for the first time at last year’s Festival as part of the Young Reporters programme. The aim of the programme is to give young people a taste of life as a journalist.
Young Reporters interview Gareth P. Jones, author of the Ninja Meerkats
Su-Lin Allen, Communications Coordinator at Asia House, who edited the magazine, said: “It was a delight to see this year’s class of Young Reporters double in size from last year and running a larger newsroom at times proved to be quite a challenge for us!
“For me, it was again inspiring to see their development. As they put their training into practice, I saw the group handle interviewing our performers with great enthusiasm and confidence— which even for experienced adults can be a daunting task.
“They encountered writers, storytellers, a rapper and a Ninja Meerkat. The group were exposed to professionals who are extremely passionate about communicating with others, through writing, music, stories and even origami. I hope this passion is infectious and that this year’s young journalists will apply the range of skills they learned to their everyday lives and future careers.”
The 2014 Rising Sun magazine that the Young Reporters wrote, edited and produced can be viewed below:
Asia House runs a series of youth activities as part of the Asia House Bagri Foundation Literature Festival. In addition to the Young Reporters programme:
– Children and young people across the country are invited to participate in storytelling activities with an exciting Asian theme taking place in libraries across London and in the Midlands throughout July and August. The full details of these events can be found here.
– Asia House has been holding a Schools Writing Programme and Student Writing Competition for young people aged 12 to 18 at schools in London and the Midlands. Authors have visited schools and held workshops with young people. Following these workshops, the students were asked to submit pieces of creative writing based on the theme of ‘Values’ by 30 June 2014. More than 250 pieces of creative writing were submitted. There are two categories of prizes – for children aged 12-16 and also 17-18. Judging is currently taking place and the winners will be notified by mid-August. For more information on this click here. The winning pieces will be published on the Asia House website.
