A YOUNG aspiring journalist from Great Sankey, was highly commended in the Yorkshire Evening Post’s prize for local digital journalism after impressing judges with his hyperlocal news site.

Jonathan Whitfield was shortlisted for the prize and received the highly commended award for his sports site West Yorks Rugby Union.

The 20-year-old spent every weekend reporting on rugby union regardless of the weather, which posed a challenge as it’s a sport he’d never ventured into before.

Jonathan said: “What kept me going every weekend was knowing that this could blossom into a truly unique site if I continued to put the work in. And it’s amazing that all my hard work has been worth it.

“It was such a good day because I got the award in the morning and I graduated with a first-class honours in the afternoon.”

Now in its second year, the local digital journalism prize was set up by Leeds Trinity University lecturer Rebecca Whittington and Yorkshire Evening Post editor Hannah Thaxter in order to increase engagement in local news and to encourage students to network and learn from industry professionals at the newspaper.

Final year students at Leeds Trinity partaking in a digital media module, where participants created a website for niche online audiences, were eligible to be shortlisted for the prize if the web content had a focus on Leeds.

Not only was Jonathan a runner up for the Local Digital Journalism prize, he also won the Leeds Trinity’s School of Arts & Communications prize for outstanding academic achievement and managing to gain firsts in all modules across the three years.

After graduating, Jordan is starting his freelance career in Leeds as well as applying for some full time jobs, and although made for a module, stated he’d love to continue the West Yorks Rugby Union legacy if he could.

Rebecca Whittington, lecturer in journalism and founder of the Local Digital Journalism prize, said: “The prize offers a brilliant opportunity for our final year undergraduate students to demonstrate their skills in producing high-quality digital journalism."