Monday, 11 May 2009
E-reporter contest sees 11 students selected to report on Bridgestone events for the 2009 season.
Bridgestone announced the names of the 11 finalists for the 2009 e-reporter young journalists contest as the opening round of the Bridgestone-backed GP2 Series took place this weekend at the Spanish F1 Grand Prix in Barcelona.
Eight finalists are attending a F1 race weekend to follow the GP2 Series this season, while three others will get the opportunity to witness the action in MotoGP. All finalists will be reporting on the Bridgestone-supported championships for Bridgestone’s website, (www.bridgestone.eu/e-reporter), and interviewing riders or drivers to fine tune their journalistic skills.
2009 marks the sixth year of the popular e-reporter initiative, and once again a record number of entries have been submitted by students from all across Europe. Following an in-depth judging process conducted by international journalists and respected figureheads from motorsport, the Bridgestone e-reporter finalists confirmed for 2009, and attending the following races, are:
8-10 May GP2 – Spain Ferran Lopez Margall (Spain) 15-17 May MotoGP – France Simona Vogel (Germany) 21-23 May GP2 – Monaco Filip Cleeren (Belgium) 12-14 June MotoGP – Spain Renaud Lacroix (France) 19-21 June GP2 – Silverstone Stephanie Black (UK) 25-27 June MotoGP – Assen Lukasz Lesniewski (Poland) 10-12 July GP2 – Germany Kate Goodacre (UK) 24-26 July GP2 – Hungary Tim Biesbrouck (Netherlands) 21-23 August GP2 – Europe Joao Filipe (Portugal) 28-30 August GP2 – Belgium Mieke Vercammen (Belgium) 11-13 Sept GP2 – Monza Nicola Del Medico (Italy)
Bridgestone’s 2009 finalists will be taking up the challenge of the e-reporter programme, and they follow in the footsteps of previous e-reporter finalists now working in broadcast and print journalism within the F1 paddock: Guillaume Navarro (overall winner in 2008) secured a position at the beginning of the year with French radio station RMC Sport radio (Radio Monte Carlo); Tabatha Valls Halling now works for the Spanish television station TV3; Martin Westerhoff writes for the German publication Auto Bild Motorsport; and Laura Postma continues reporting for the Dutch magazine Formule 1 Race Report.
All 2009 e-reporter entrants, when applying for the competition, were required to demonstrate their ability to write a newsworthy story and develop creative interview questions. Bridgestone was also keen to make the contest as accessible as possible to students from all over Europe, allowing this year’s entries to be submitted in English, Dutch, French, German, Polish, Spanish or Portuguese.
Commenting on e-reporter entries for 2009, Des Collins, Vice President of the European Communications Office, Bridgestone Europe, said, “Bridgestone e-reporter continues to identify and nurture young journalistic talent, and we are absolutely delighted with the high level of entries for e-reporter which consistently increases year-on-year. It is also testament to the competition that so many finalists from previous years can now be seen working in Formula One. Bridgestone is honoured that so many e-reporters have been successful and are now working in the world of media due to their involvement in the competition. In 2009 we have more finalists than ever before. It promises to be a great year for the chosen e-reporters as they will experience the GP2 Series or MotoGP Championship from inside the paddock.”
Bridgestone e-reporter aims to help talented young writers to develop their skills, whilst also providing students with the chance of a lifetime as they become part of the Bridgestone team at a GP2 or MotoGP race event. The overall winner of this year’s e-reporter competition, chosen for their ability to represent the Bridgestone brand and demonstrate their natural flair for journalism, will be announced in September 2009.
