Become a reporter

Writing competition

Not all news reporting is dangerous; sometimes it can even be funny. Become a reporter and write a 75–150 word news story on ‘What’s happened in your town lately?’ Topics can be serious or silly (see the samples below). Five of you will win Radio Free Europe merchandise and MP4 players.

Send your story to competition@bridge-online.cz, subject “RFE”, by October 31, 2013. Don’t forget to mention your whole name, the name and address of your school, and the name of your English teacher.

Sample: serious (84 words)

Last month people in Prague got all wet! Heavy rain made the river rise and flooded the old town and other parts of the city. Tram and metro services were interrupted and many schools and businesses were closed. The zoo was also under water and the animals had to be moved to safer locations. At least seven people were killed and several others were missing. The government declared a state of emergency and the damage to the city will cost about 73 billion CZK.

Sample: silly (99 words)

A fly that got into a woman’s apartment caused serious damage when it was seen by the woman’s cat, Fluffy. While trying to capture the unwanted insect, Fluffy knocked over and broke several of her owner’s glass decorations and spilled some water on an electrical outlet which caused the electricity in the entire building to go out. Neighbours called the police and it took several hours to turn the power back on.  The woman got a small cut while cleaning the broken glass but Fluffy was unhurt and managed to catch and eat the fly before the police arrived.