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Young Person from Belfast wins Young Journalist of the Year Award

Up against candidates from all over the UK, Lyra Mc Kee (16), a member of Children’s Express, recently won the Sky UK Young Journalist of the Year Award 2006.

 

Lyra McKee is a sixteen-year-old reporter with Children's Express from Belfast, Northern Ireland. She recently won the Sky News “Young Journalist of the Year” award. When asked about how it felt to have fought off competition from journalism students, who were more than two years older than her, Lyra merely says, “Amazing. It’s not everyday that something on this scale happens to someone like me”

 

In the past few months, Lyra has been the centre of media attention, having appeared on GMTV Northern Ireland and BBC Newsline. The normally outgoing teenager admits, “It is a bit of a novelty to have been on television, and a little hard to deal with as well. I’m a journalist, not a celebrity. Lately, more often than not, I’ve been answering questions when I should’ve been asking them!”

 

Having just returned from Toronto, where she has been reporting on the week-long International Aids Conference, Lyra is now eager for a new challenge, “Reporting on the Conference confirmed what I already knew; that being a journalist is the best job in the world, and the only job for me. I just want to get on with my new project now, and make a success of it”. Questioned as to what this “new project” might be, the teenager winks and says, “If it creates the stir I’m hoping it will, then all will be revealed in the next few months!”

 

Beginning her A-Levels soon (she will be studying English Literature, Religion and History) at Belfast Institute, will be one of the next steps towards her dream of being a journalist. She says, “I’m just taking things one step at a time. Hopefully, it will all pay off”.

So, will we be hearing from the talented young hack anytime soon? “I don’t know”, she admits, suddenly absorbed in thought, “We (reporters) have very few moments of glory. I’m going to bask in mine while it lasts”.

Children’s Express is a voluntary youth organisation offering a programme of learning through journalism for young people aged 8-18. To find out more, check out their Website www.childrens-express.org

Last edited by: youngcitizens.org.uk (26/01/2007).


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