LutonBlog will be run by journalism students at the University’s Luton campus and features news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, reviews and opinions.

The website will act as a feeder site for Luton Today, the Luton News and the Herald & Post, giving the students valuable professional cuttings to enhance their chances of securing journalism jobs when they graduate.

The partnership follows a successful link-up between the University’s Milton Keynes campus (UCMK) and the Milton Keynes Citizen, a fellow Johnston Press publication, in the creation of a student-run news website called CitiBlog.

Editor Liam Andrews has rolled out the same format in developing LutonBlog.

Liam, 21, a third year journalism student at the University, said: “From running CitiBlog I have managed to get lots of local contacts and experience in the journalism industry, so it has been really exciting to set up LutonBlog as other students will now get that same opportunity.

“I’m delighted the Luton News has agreed to become our partner as it enables us to work with local journalists in the business and get the students’ articles out there to the Luton public.“

Jon Boyle, a Journalism Lecturer at the University, played a key role in arranging the partnerships, having previously worked for various Johnston Press publications as a reporter.

He said: “We’ve been so pleased with the success of CitiBlog that it made sense to expand our little empire to Luton so the students here can gain experience of running a professional news website.

“The Luton students regularly produce excellent journalistic work so it’s fantastic that they now have a professionally-backed public website to showcase it.”

Story credit: Luton News