AN EXCITED cohort of young journalism students from University of Limerick (UL) are to join the seasoned pros at the national broadcaster this weekend to help keep the nation informed about how General Election 2024 is shaking out.
16 students from the journalism department at UL will join RTÉ teams across this weekend as they keep the nation informed on how the count goes to see who will lead the country over the next four years.
The project, a collaboration between the national broadcaster and the UL Journalism department will see RTÉ News’ Social and Digital Native Content Editor Philip Bromwell assign the aspiring young reporters to work with seasoned RTÉ reporters and correspondents at various count centres around the country over the election weekend.
Mr Bromwell said the UL students would be an important addition to RTÉ’s election coverage.
“We’re delighted to work with talented journalism students and give them a chance to see at first-hand how we cover one of the biggest news stories of the year. This is the broadest and most ambitious multi-platform coverage of the election that has ever been attempted by RTÉ,” he said.
Head of the UL journalism department and lecturer in broadcast journalism, Dr Fergal Quinn, says the collaboration is a great opportunity for students to learn new skills and put the skills they have into practice in a real world environment.
“We are very committed to practical experience as a key part of our students’ journalism education. We’re very pleased to have been able to work with RTÉ on this initiative,” he said.
“It’s a terrific opportunity for our best students to both experience the democratic process and see the buzz of election count centres, while also building important contacts with politicians and RTE staff that can help them in their future career.”
