A story written by a journalism student on a week’s work experience led to her being interviewed by Jeremy Vine for his Radio 2 show.

Sarah Morcom, left, wrote a front page splash for the Newquay Voice about taxi driver Don Pratt who retired when a former customer left him £250,000 in her will.

Her story was picked up across the national press, including the Guardian, The Daily Mail and The Daily Express and was even reported on as far afield as Spain and Australia, while she was also interviewed on national radio about it.

20-year-old Sarah, who is a studying Journalism and English Language at the University of Portsmouth, said she enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame.

She said: “I was thrilled to see my story on the front page of the local paper. I never expected to see something I’d written on a work experience post make page one and I was smiling all day.

“When it was picked up by the nationals the next day I couldn’t believe it and when the Jeremy Vine show called and asked me for an interview, I was stunned.

“I was out shopping and ended up doing the interview from the local library. I was so nervous I was shaking but it actually went quite well and I enjoyed my 15 minutes of fame. It was a whirlwind couple of days.

“My mum and my gran have bought copies of all the papers and are saving them for posterity.”

Sarah’s university tutor Mary Williams said: “We encourage all our students to undertake industry placements but breaking a national story before she’s even finished her studies is a fantastic.

“I’m extremely proud of her and I’m sure there’s a bright future ahead of her.”

Comments

Bobby (28/06/2010 12:46:50)
It was reported in German newspaper Bild as well. Great story!