A news agency run by young people covers hard stories and changes lives, reports Fionola Meredith
The first thing that strikes you about Headliners, a news agency run for and by young people, is that this is no Wendy-house operation. With newsrooms in Belfast, Derry and London, the youngsters, whose ages range from eight to 19, aren't playing at being journalists. Far from it: the kids are firmly in the driving seat, producing news, features and comment with an energy and enthusiasm that would put many a fully fledged journalist to shame.
What's more, this ambitious output isn't solely directed at other young people. Headliners prides itself on producing news "by children for everyone". The organisation says its youngsters offer "refreshingly original" material that can sit alongside the work of their adult counterparts. And it has many high-profile fans: Alan Rusbridger, editor of the Guardian, is an admirer, and Faisal Islam of Channel 4 Newsdescribes the young Headliners as "inspiring: motivated, ballsy and brilliant".
Nora Greer, chairwoman of Headliners' Belfast advisory board, says the young people at the news agency act as "an antidote to all the negative imagery and demonisation of this generation of young people". And Headliners isn't just another adult-led youth project that talks good theory about "youth participation". "The difference is that the young people are the organisation. They own it and run it, with the adults facilitating the programme, ensuring the resources and servicing the operation. "
This unique "learning through journalism" programme, which began in the UK as Children's Express in 1994, has shown that allowing youngsters to do it for themselves brings striking results. Recent work has included broadcasts for Sky News, BBC Radio 4 and BBC Northern Ireland as well as publication in the Guardianand a host of local newspapers. Stephen Douds, a television producer with BBC NI who sits on the Belfast advisory board, says: "In the few years since I've been on the board I've seen just how talented, versatile and media-savvy our young people are. They have filed copy for daily newspapers, written reviews, made radio packages and increasingly now are moving into television production."
The name was changed to Headliners, in January, at the instigation of the young people, when it emerged that many of them weren't keen on the word "children" in the name. Not cool - and it implied the focus was solely on children's issues.
The grown-up ethos extends to the content. They don't shy away from difficult subjects, and part of producing "real copy for real newspapers read by discerning adults" means exploring topics such as global poverty, race and religion. Last year three young people went to the International Aids Conference in Toronto, as "embedded" journalists with Save the Children. In her diary for the BBC Blastwebsite, 17-year-old Lyra McKee, from Belfast, was refreshingly frank about the challenges of the job: "The strain of the past 11 days plunged me into a zombie-like stupor . . . Even with all this, I can still honestly say, wait till I cross my fingers, that I love being a journalist. Turning out a great piece of work even when time is running against you is like sticking your tongue out and saying, 'Ha ha, look what I can do!' "
Lyra - a confident, articulate girl who says she was never a straight-A student - last year won Sky's young-journalist competition. "I always dreamed of winning an award for journalism. It's the sort of thing that normally only happens to grammar-school girls." Lyra says the agency has changed her prospects. "Headliners offered me a clean slate, a chance to prove myself, to show I had a talent I could be proud of. The stereotyped formula where I come from is that you leave school, then work in a shop. But now I'm going on to do my A levels."
Being trusted and respected is key. Ben, a 16-year-old with ambitions to be a radio presenter, asks: "What other 16-year-old gets to make a documentary for the BBC? Normally a teenager wouldn't be trusted to hold a camera worth £3,000."
Belfast project co-ordinator Tricia Magee Valladares emphasises that Headliners is not a journalism school. "We work with a mix of young people, some of whom will never become journalists. The point is learning through journalism; our primary aim is for young people to articulate their views. Essentially we are a children's-rights organisation." Ability and background don't come into it: the only requirement for new recruits is curiosity and an enthusiasm for getting involved. There's a special focus on young people who are isolated or at risk of exclusion, those who are disabled or have experienced being in care, and young people from minority groups.
"Tomorrow's or, perhaps more accurately, today's multimedia world holds no fear for them," says Douds. "There has been something real and vital about being part of an organisation that gives Belfast's teenagers a chance to speak for themselves and comment on the world around them."
For many participants, the organisation represents much more than a journalism programme. "The impact Headliners has had on my life is dumbfounding," says Lyra McKee. "It's the reason I can count myself as equal and worthy as those friends whose achievements used to dwarf my own."
www.headliners.org