By Elisha Atkinson
Local crown court reporter Stephanie Finnegan will attend Leeds Trinity University’s 10th Journalism and Media Week which begins on Monday 5 November.
The four-day event allows budding journalists to attend workshops hosted by journalism professionals in order to network and develop an understanding of the industry.
Stephanie Finnegan, who works for LeedsLive and ExaminerLive recently successfully challenged Leeds Crown Court’s decision to postpone reporting on the Tommy Robinson case.
Finnegan received praise and support from journalists across the industry including Channel 4’s Alastair Stewart and the co-author of McNae’s law book, after a social media backlash.
Journalism senior lecturer, Amy Lund, who helped organise the event said: “Stephanie Finnegan has first-hand experience of being in the centre of a social media storm due to having successfully challenged a Contempt of Court postponement order and she broke the full story about the jailing of far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
“As a young journalist who only recently achieved her MA Journalism and gold standard NCTJ diploma, she has had to face the backlash and stand her ground as a court reporter.
“I thought this would be of particular interest to our own Journalism students to help them prepare for some of the big stories they might find themselves covering early in their careers.”
The LeedsLive reporter will be hosting a talk in the Conference Suite at 1pm on Thursday 8 November.
Other attendees include Richard McKerrow, creator of The Great British Bake off and Nina Hossain, ITV news anchor.
Each speaker will provide an insight into their role in their career and give aspiring journalists advice on how to get into the industry.
If you are not a student at Leeds Trinity University you can book to attend the talks and workshops on: http://www.leedstrinity.ac.uk/courses/journalism/journalism-week for the timetable details.