Earlier this month, Rokas Andriusaitis from St. Paul's Community College, Caoimhe O'Neill from Ardscoil na Mara, Kate Galvin from St Declan’s Community College, Oisín Langford from De La Salle College and Eva Finan from St. Angela's Ursuline Secondary School successfully completed TY Media week at regional radio station Beat 102-103.
These students were among 14 students selected from over 150 applications received from all over the South East. The media literacy programme is supported by Comisiun na Meán and is devised by national training network Learning Waves and Beat 102-103. During the week, the secondary school students learned how to critically analyse content that is published on their social media feed along with how to edit and hone their presentation skills. All of the students worked together to produce an end of week audio programme which was broadcast on Beat on November 20th and 21st and is available now as a podcast at www.beat102103.com
For their programmes the students explored a variety of topics spanning from local musicians, sports, and theatre to delving into Irish cultural quirks. Before engaging in conversations with professionals, they hit the streets of Waterford to conduct enlightening vox pops, to gauge the publics opinion on their topics. They also conducted Interviews with a spectrum of individuals, including lecturers from SETU, business professionals, and content creators. The students posed thought-provoking questions, such as the relationship between sports and theatre, favourite Irish phrases, the impact of ads on social media, and much more.
The programme was project-led by Megan O’Regan Byrne who presents Beat’s Most Wanted Weekdays from 6pm, alongside support from Jayde Maher, Beat’s News & Sports Journalist. Alongside the projects the students created, Irish TikToker Caoimhe Byrne (@therealcraic) visited the students during the week in Beat to chat about all things content creation.
Speaking following the week-long interactive initiative, Beat’s CEO Gabrielle Cummins, said: “Beat is proud to be associated with such an important initiative for young people. With so much fake news showing up on their social media feeds as they scroll, the skills they’ve learned during their time at Beat will sharpen their critical thinking & encourage them to question information that’s shared online. We’re also thrilled that the course provides young people direct access to radio, a medium that they’re not as familiar with as other generations so it’s highlighting to them what a vibrant industry the radio sector is and it’s brilliant to see them really enjoying producing content for Beat on air and online.”
All 14 students were presented with a certificate of completion during a presentation night at the Broadcast Centre following their week of work experience at Beat 102 103.
Speaking about the programme, Teresa Hanratty, Project Manager at Learning Waves, said: “Getting hands on, practical experience is so valuable for young people. Our training network recognised that because there is so much choice out there for media consumption, young people need better supports. This course affords the students an opportunity to gain insider knowledge of how a radio station works, in a fun, engaging, live studio environment. At the end of the week, they get to put their skills to the test by producing a project that will be broadcast on air. The feedback from the students about the course has been unanimously positive.”
Their programmes were broadcast on Beat on November 20th and 21st and is available now as a podcast at www.beat102103.com
