A 20-year-old journalism student has had a column printed in Britain’s biggest newspaper after winning a national writing competition.
Rebecca Stubbs wrote a first person piece about bringing back girl power following recent events, including Miley Cyrus’ controversial performance at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards in which the singer wore latex underwear and regularly stuck her tongue out.
The column was printed in millions of copies of The Sun after the Sunderland University student scooped the top prize in the newspaper’s Column Idol competition.
The award followed three months of mentoring from Sun Women journalist Jennifer Tippett who gave her tips on writing style, how to develop her column and how to make it in the media industry.
Competing alongside five other finalists, she was then tasked with pitching her column idea to a judging panel including The Sun’s editor David Dinsmore and TV broadcaster and award-winning columnist Lorraine Kelly.
““Winning Column Idol was absolutely amazing. I was so proud of my column and I couldn’t have done it without my mentor Jen,” she said.
“It’s my dream to be a national journalist, so to see my column in the biggest newspaper in the country is a dream come true.
“Column Idol was a fantastic experience and learning curve for me. It will hopefully open up opportunities for me to pursue my career ambition of becoming a journalist.”
The competition provides six young people, aged 16-25, with the chance to be mentored by top journalists through Media Trust’s youth mentoring scheme and have their column printed in The Sun.
Rebecca was selected as a finalist from nearly 500 entries and Sun editor David Dinsmore said the standard of entries was extremely high.
“All the finalists were really inspirational, so it was a difficult choice, but in the end the judges were unanimous in their praise for Rebecca,” he said.
“Her final column is extremely well written, entertaining and thought provoking and she should be really proud of what she has achieved.”
Katie Lloyd, deputy chief executive of Media Trust, said: “We are delighted to partner with The Sun on Column Idol for the third year running and continue to see The Sun supporting young people in such a positive way.
“Rebecca is a deserving winner and impressed the judges with her column and confident pitch.”