Make your mark in the media

'The Irish Times' is looking for talented young magazine makers.

Media education has become an integral part of the second-level curriculum. Questions about advertising, journalism and image analysis come up on the Leaving Certificate English paper every year. Educators realise that students with an insight into the workings of the media are better able to decode the messages that come at them from television, radio and newspapers every day. Media-savvy consumers are empowered in every aspect of their lives, from body image to voting.

SchoolMag, a new Irish Times competition, invites students to become media producers. The contest gives secondary-school students the opportunity to study what goes into making a magazine. It will be launched next month with an Irish Times supplement covering aspects of creating a magazine (design and layout, research methods, journalistic skills, editing, feature writing and so on).

Teachers will also contribute, giving advice on using the competition as an interdisciplinary module for transition year or a class project in any discipline. Any type of magazine can be worked on as part of the competition, and it can therefore be anchored in any subject area, from English or history through art to science.

Each fortnight in February and March, Transition Times will track the progress of St Vincent's School in Dundalk as its students prepare their magazine for the competition.

Offering additional information and tips, the pieces will be especially useful as resource tools for teachers of media studies and design.

Each entry will be studied by a panel of judges from The Irish Times. Prizes will be awarded for the best magazines in the junior- and senior-cycle categories, and there will also be awards for individuals from other schools who have displayed outstanding writing, editing or design skills.

Prizes will be awarded to both the junior and the senior sections of the school. In each section there will be five writing categories, such as best film review or social commentary, and three artistic categories, such as best cover or cartoon.

Another supplement will be published with The Irish Times in May, showcasing the winning magazines and the category winners, along with highlights from a selection of other magazines entered.

The winning teams will receive their prizes at an awards day in Dublin that month attended by students, family and the press.

The competition is open to second-level students from first to sixth year. The deadline for entries is March 18th, 2005. Send them to Real Event Solutions, 54 Ballyhooley Road, St Luke's Cross, Cork.

For more information, contact Real Event Solutions (info@real-event.ie, 021-4550434)