SEVEN trainee journalists from The Editorial Centre, Hastings, did their papers proud when they covered yesterday’s Budget live on a website.

It was a first for the centre which has previously put trainees through their paces by producing written copy on budgets and general elections but has never had the technology available to use the Internet before.

The team who covered the measures, and sourced reaction, were: Daisy Blake (Bath Chronicle); Matt Cornish; Simon Dunford (Eastern Daily Press, Norwich); Sarah Kibble (Bristol Observer); Danielle Nuttall (Evening Star, Ipswich); Emma Lee (Eastern Daily Press, Norwich); Mike Shaw (Evening Post, Bristol).

Another trainee, Matt Eley, from the Evening Star, Ipswich, was unable to take part due to illness although he had played a vital part in the preparation work of setting up local contacts ready to give reaction as soon as Chancellor Gordon Brown finished speaking.

Graham Cole, Head of Pre-Entry Training who led the exercise, said the students had enjoyed seeing their work live on the site and had worked hard and efficiently in an operation which closely mirrored the scene in newsrooms all over the UK yesterday.

Mr Cole added: “We were very fortunate to have help from Andrew Price, of Barclays Business Banking, who was on hand to help the students interpret the Budget measures.

“The trainees’ work only needed the lightest touch to sub. Like most journalists they are often better at writing about a subject they are not experts in, because they take the trouble to explain it properly.”

The students, who are on week 11 of a 15-week course, finished the reports on site at 7pm, and were reporting back today for a de-brief.

The site can be visited at www.hastings-news.co.uk

Because of the success of the project, Mr Cole said the site may be used in subsequent courses for other news and reaction stories.

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