A third year University of Portsmouth journalism student has landed her first national scoop after a hard-hitting news investigation.
A story produced by Eloise Hill hit the headlines after being picked up by the Press Association and sent out to all UK media. It was featured in The Sun, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, and ITV as well as across regional newspapers from Aberdeen to Oxford.
She had been tasked by journalism lecturer, Paul Foster, to write a news feature based on Freedom of Information responses he had received about the ‘Sarah’s Law’ scheme.
Officially known as the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, it allows anyone to ask their local police force if someone has a record of committing crimes against children.
The FoI requests — sent to police forces across the UK — revealed there had been 16,900 applications to the Sarah’s Law scheme since it began in 2011, with 1,400 parents being told that an individual with access to their child or children is a sex offender.
Eloise, who produced the article as part of her Level 6 Newsroom Production module, said: ‘I’m really excited to have one of my pieces submitted to the Press Association.
‘It was a difficult piece to research so I’m pleased that it could potentially reach a wider audience.’
Here are some of the publications which ran the story:
