2009 Bridgestone e-reporter Open for Entries

Now entering its sixth year, the Bridgestone e-reporter competition provides a seldom-encountered opportunity for aspiring young journalists to showcase their talent and launch a career in their chosen profession. The competition is, as in previous years, open to European students aged between 18 and 30 who are in full-time education. The overall winner of the 2009 competition, chosen for his or her journalistic skills and ability to represent the Bridgestone brand, will be awarded with a laptop, plus further work experience.

The overall winner will be selected from 11 finalists. For 2009, Bridgestone is offering these finalists the opportunity to attend a MotoGP or GP2 Series race weekend and produce an article based on their on-site experiences and interviews with riders and drivers. These finalists will be selected by an international judging panel, which will evaluate the submitted sample writing received by Bridgestone before March 31, 2009. The successful entrants, comments Bridgestone, will be those who can demonstrate their ability to write a newsworthy story and develop creative interview questions.

In previous years the e-reporter competition used English as the language of choice, and therefore the victories of entrants who speak English as a second language, such as last year’s Guillaume Navarro, are even more impressive. And while few are willing to debate the magnificence of our dear mother tongue, Bridgestone states it is keen to make the competition as accessible as possible to students from all over Europe. Therefore this year entries submitted in English, Dutch, French, German, Polish, Spanish or Portuguese will also be accepted.

Commenting on Bridgestone e-reporter and the aims of the competition, Gerry Duffy, vice president of Sales & Marketing, Bridgestone Europe, said, “Bridgestone is continually looking at ways to invest in the community and is very proud of the e-reporter programme and its achievements in terms of developing careers. In 2008 we celebrated five years of e-reporter, and in 2009 we look forward to involving 11 e-reporter finalists in what will be an exciting year for Bridgestone across Formula One, MotoGP and the GP2 Series. It is also an exciting development to allow entrants to write in a choice of seven different languages, so we expect to see an increase in entries yet again this year. ”

Finalists from previous years have come from all over Europe including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Finland, Malta, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, Ireland and the UK. During each competition year, winners and finalists have gone on to secure full-time jobs within the media as a direct result of their involvement with Bridgestone e-reporter. Media outlets that e-reporter graduates now write for include Autosport and ITV-F1.com in the UK, along with numerous other European based publications.

For further information on the 2009 Bridgestone e-reporter competition, or to submit an entry, visit bridgestone.eu/e-reporter.