Student placement

Student placement drives business strategy forward

With a reach spanning across the north and north-east of Scotland, from Huntly to John O’Groats, Highland News & Media brings communities the latest in local news.

With some of its brands having been around for more than 200 years, the news group remains passionate about print newspapers but understands the changing media landscape. As it adapts to reader preferences and trends, Highland News & Media is offering new digital subscription models to reach a younger audience – this means creating more content-led news, ensuring local stories reach and resonate with future generations for years to come.

Following two successful graduate placements, with one participant even securing a permanent position with the media group, Highland News & Media opted to take on a student in 2024, supported by Northern Innovation Hub’s (NIH) Technology Placement programme, to assist with content creation.

Georgia Smyth, social media manager and video producer at Highland News & Media, said: “We are adapting the way we deliver news to our readers, especially younger audiences. With content now at the forefront of our news strategy, we enrolled the help of student Molly Thompson for 12 weeks through the NIH Technology Placement Programme to support this function.”

Securing the funding from NIH Technology Placement Programme enabled us to have a dedicated member of our team creating and delivering content, ultimately driving forward our strategy to become more digitally focussed.

Georgia Smyth, Social Media Manager and Video Producer , Highland News & Media

Developing next generation talent

Keen to support the next generation of talent, Highland News & Media has been able to utilise Molly’s natural talent to support the ongoing business strategy while helping her grow and develop her skills. Georgia continues: “Molly has been a great asset to the team. Over her 12-week placement, she has been involved in a variety of projects including voxpops, commercial videos, social media content, and article videos. She even had the opportunity to go backstage at MacMoray Festival where she interviewed Callum Beattie and Bonnie Tyler, and captured footage of The Jacksons and Cascada, among other big names.”

“Beyond her contribution to video production, Molly also explored article writing. On days when the video workload was lighter, we encouraged her to try her hand at writing, and she produced some impressive work.”

The NIH Technology Placement Programme offers organisations of all sizes in the Highland Council area up to 70% funding for a student or graduate placement to help businesses keep up with the pace of technological change and accelerate growth through innovation.

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Highland News and Media student placement