Press Pass- An Initiative from NewsBrands Ireland

Press Pass is NewsBrands Ireland’s Transition Year news literacy and student journalism programme.

Since the Press Pass programme launched in 2012, approximately 120,000 students have benefited from it. With the full support of the Department of Education, Press Pass seeks to improve news literacy and critical thinking skills while helping students to develop a deeper understanding of news media and how it communicates about the world around them.

Registered schools will receive access to digital newspapers, a Teacher’s Lesson Plan and a specially created student workbook. Students are encouraged to engage with the news journalism in the classroom, to analyse the content and writing styles,  and then to create their own original journalism, the best of which is entered into a national competition.

The 2024 Press Pass programme will open for registration in November 2023. Registered schools will receive their free resources in January 2024 and the course is designed to run for 8 weeks. For further details, please contact Lisa Buckley at NewsBrands Ireland ( lbuckley@newsbrands.ie).