Opportunity for students aged 18-30 in Europe Attend the Spanish and Italian Formula One Grands Prix Report on the Bridgestone-backed GP2 Series at an F1 race weekend Bridgestone, the Official Tyre Supplier to the FIA Formula One World Championship and the GP2 Series, is searching for young journalistic talent for the 2008 Bridgestone e-reporter competition.
All students across Europe aged 18-30 and in full time education, on any educational course, have the chance to enter this journalistic contest to help launch their reporting career. Whether students have a passion for motorsport, sports reporting, or simply a flair for writing, Bridgestone e-reporter aims to enhance the skills of students wishing to work in the world of media.
Students will need to enter online at bridgestone.eu/e-reporter before 31 March 2008. Entrants are required to demonstrate their ability to write a newsworthy story by submitting a 300 word article and writing interview questions which will be judged by a panel of highly-respected media experts and international journalists. Eight finalists will be selected to each attend a European Formula One Grand Prix weekend to report on the Bridgestone-backed GP2 Series – the feeder series to Formula One which has produced F1 star drivers such as 2008 team mates Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen.
All eight finalists will also be invited to the first European Grand Prix of the 2008 season, in Barcelona (25 – 27 April), to launch and celebrate the fifth year of the Bridgestone e-reporter competition. In addition, all 33 finalists from the last five years will be invited to attend a Bridgestone e-reporter reunion at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza – the 2008 GP2 Series finale – to showcase Bridgestone’s investment in the community and future of young journalists. The overall winner of the 2008 e-reporter contest, chosen for their ability to represent the Bridgestone brand and produce written race reports, will continue their work on Bridgestone-backed championships by covering the final round of MotoGP in Valencia (26 October) as part of the competition prize.
Bridgestone’s winner will also be awarded a laptop, work experience at a European motorsport magazine and attend a safety event for Bridgestone. Bridgestone e-reporters continue to be successful in securing jobs within the media as a direct result of their involvement in the competition.
Members of the growing e-reporter network now write for various European websites and publications either regularly or as contributors to Eurosport.com (UK), Crash.net (UK), F1grandprix.it (Italy), Silverstone Magazine (UK), Autoklub (Poland), Auto Bild Motorsport (Germany), Formule 1 Race Report (the Netherlands), Autosport es Formula (Hungary) and PC Format Magazine (UK). During the past five years, finalists have come from all over Europe including France, Germany, Italy, Finland, Malta, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Poland and the UK.
Commenting on the launch of the 2008 competition, Gerry Duffy, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Bridgestone Europe, said, “We are very proud of the Bridgestone e-reporter competition and what it has achieved in recent years. It shows Bridgestone’s investment in education and the future of students who have aspirations to work as journalists within a very competitive sporting environment. Bridgestone is celebrating five years of the competition in 2008 and look forward to bringing together a community of successful e-reporters at the Italian Grand Prix in September. This year we wish to see many more entries from students across Europe as universities recognise this as the ultimate opportunity for young writers to showcase their journalistic talent.” For further information on the 2008 Bridgestone e-reporter competition, or to enter, visit bridgestone.eu/e-reporter. The closing date for entries is 31 March 2008.
