3rd November 2026
Winning work experience at a national newspaper? That’s a prize worth having.
Work experience at a national newspaper is notoriously hard to find. For the 2026 Shine School Media Awards’ Editor of the Year, it was part of the prize.
This summer Charlton, Editor of ‘Reveal’ magazine at Pate’s Grammar School, spent a day in the Daily Mail newsroom with Senior Associate Editor Liz Hunt. He joined the editorial meetings, researched for the features desk and watched the front page splash change several times as the news moved on.
This week we share Charlton’s story.
“My day at the Daily Mail was incredibly interesting and insightful. It was impressive to see how the team puts together such a complex product every day. I was able to observe the editorial meetings, contribute research to the features desk, and see the pages come to life in layouts. The front page splash changed several times during the day, and it was fascinating to see how the team adapted to changing information.
“Observing how the headlines and pages were put together and refined so quickly and thoughtfully was particularly instructive. This perspective on the editorial process made reading the issue the next day especially interesting.
“The experience has given me a whole new respect and appreciation for the work of everyone involved and a lot of new thoughts about how to approach editing a publication.
“Thanks again to everyone at the Daily Mail and Stationers’ Foundation for making this possible.”
Encourage your students to start a school media project or funnel groups of students with talent interests into one of these areas. Even better, you might find they already create school work that is eligible for the Shine School Media Awards via the AQA Level 3 EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) where, for instance, a student has led a completed and assessed media project.
We’d love your students to be part of the Shine School Media Awards next year. We’re accepting registrations for the 2027 competition right now, just tap on the link below.
Entry deadline: 7th May 2027
Do you have any questions? Email us direct at shine@stationers.org
Best wishes,
Richard Chapman
Chair, Shine School Media Awards