News UK's News Academy is giving young aspiring journalists the opportunity to have their election views, comments and stories published on the General Election.

Around 70 aspiring young journalists from south London schools attended a special pre-election conference at The Globe Academy in London on Wednesday April 1.

The conference was organised by the News Academy, the initiative from News UK which aims to invest in and inspire the next generation of journalists. It was addressed by an expert panel including The Times Assistant Editor (Politics), Philip Webster, Southwark Councillor, Dora Dixon-Fyle, MBE and News Academy Director, Duncan White.

They debated the relationship between the media, politics and the electorate with Philip giving a unique insight into his 40 years as a political journalist.

The conference also saw the launch of GE2015, the News Academy’s campaign that will give budding young journalists a unique opportunity to get involved in a debate around one of the most unpredictable General Elections for decades. Young people aged 16 to 18 are encouraged to submit articles on election stories they have discovered, or their own analysis and comment on the battle to occupy Number 10, the best of which will be published on the News Academy website.

The Times Assistant Editor (Politics), Phillip Webster said:

Working at The Times was a school boy dream for me. I hope today’s debate, along with some of my experiences in journalism, will help tomorrow’s aspiring journalists plan their career path for one of the best jobs in the world.

News Academy Director, Duncan White, said:

Today’s conference and the News Academy’s GE2015 campaign gives young journalists an opportunity to follow in Philip's footsteps and get some real CV beating experience to make it in one of the toughest but most rewarding careers.

Southwark Councillor, Dora Dixon-Fyle, MBE said:

Anything that raises young people's awareness of future careers is great. The Academy is very professional. Politics and journalism go hand in hand.

To help budding journalists join in with GE2015 the News Academy has produced a press pack, containing advice and guidelines from some best political journalists in the industry. The pack can be dowloaded from the News Academy website: http://academy.news.co.uk/.