Eton College hosted the student-led A Future in Journalism conference on 18 March 2025. After a Q&A with a panel of journalists and two workshops, the attendees from 10 partner schools were invited to submit an article about their experience. Well done to Alex Hugaas, a sixth form student at the London Academy of Excellence, whose fantastic article is published below.
On 18 March, Eton College hosted an event for aspiring young journalists, ran by Eton students. The day began with a welcome address by Sir Nicholas Coleridge CBE DL, Provost of Eton and award-winning newspaper and magazine journalist.
This was followed by an insightful question time with a star-studded panel, including a 54-year serving journalist with The Times Michael Binyon, award-winning broadcaster and BBC Radio 4 presenter Andrea Catherwood, a sportswriter for The Guardian Tim de Lisle, former Sky news editor Fiona Robinson, and Sir Nicholas Coleridge as previously mentioned.
The stories and advice given by the panel were fascinating, such as Andrea Catherwoods’s experience of being injured as a foreign correspondent in Afghanistan, and Sir Nicholas Coleridge’s advice to find a specific skill when writing articles which is engaging and unique to you specifically.
Two workshops followed this Q&A, with the first one based on broadcast journalism. The array of activities included mock reporter interviews, headline making, and a personal favourite of mine being the live 30-second teleprompter reading in front of a camera — as if live in a BBC studio itself.
The second workshop was a Writing and Design exercise aimed to teach us the different ways and tricks to write engaging pieces for different platforms. The activity consisted of groups writing articles about a hypothetical event at Eton but tailored for different platforms: a news story on Eton College’s website, a magazine article and a social media post. Doing this allowed us to develop our writing skills and implement advice on how to make our pieces stand out and be engaging.
Overall, the event was the perfect opportunity to learn more about a career in journalism from those directly involved and high up in the industry, learn key skills, and hear key advice on how to make it as a top journalist.
Thank you to Eton College for hosting this incredible event!
