Once again over twelve Community Reporters from across Manchester and Salford turned up for the third and final session at the studios of the BBC on Oxford Road in central Manchester.

The afternoon started with lunch in the BBC canteen with gave the visitors an opportunity to celebrity spot. After grabbing something to eat the group met together in reception before moving on to the meeting room, the former BBC radio studio.

In this session Jim Clarke, News Gathering Editor for North West Tonight at BBC Manchester who led all the sessions looked through newspapers highlighting what made a good story and how one has to know the audience one is writing for. The group looked through a variety of different newspapers to see which stories caught their eye and discussed why.

BBC Visit Slideshow

After a coffee break the group looked at how to write stories which would gain wider appeal. Jim presented the group with a series of random press releases that a programme, such as North West Tonight, is sent on a regular basis and how many stories they received did not have an angle they could use!

The session closed with a couple of people offering examples of local interest stories and Jim giving advice on how to develop them for a wider audience.

Jim ended the session giving out his contact details and welcoming members of the group to contact him if they had any stories or if they needed advice.

All the group were really positive about the experience and took a great deal away from their visits to the BBC. People were incredibly enthused and wanted to develop things further.

The groups from Salford and north Manchester even had stories which Jim said he might consider for inclusion on North West Tonight.