HUNDREDS of budding journalists from around the world will arrive in Glasgow in April for a unique Commonwealth Games project.

Exactly 100 days before the Games begin, up to 300 young people aged between 16 and 19 will take part in the Aye Write! Future News International Young Journalists' Conference.

They will include Glasgow pupil Caitlin Marshall, who attends the city's Hillpark Secondary School.

The conference is part of the Glasgow 2014 cultural programme and the young delegates will enjoy master-classes from some of the world's leading journalists.

They will discuss a range of topics including press freedom, ethical reporting, technical skills, investigative features, research and use of digital technology and social media to report their stories.

The British Council will select young people from the Commonwealth who, on their return home, will help foster an ongoing relationship long after the Games.

Teenagers will take part from 14 countries including Jamaica, Malaysia, Mozambique, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Zambia and the UK.

It is expected other countries will soon be confirmed as taking part in the three-day conference in the city's Mitchell Library.

During the Commonwealth Games, the library will be the base for a live Commonwealth Games newsroom which will see 40 aspiring young journalists from Glasgow working on Games-related stories and compiling and editing reports.

Their work will be uploaded and accessed by young people from across the Commonwealth who will edit, interpret and produce content for their local audiences.

Young people will prepare reports and bulletins and publish online newspapers using a network of virtual newsrooms which will span the globe.

They will also be able to contribute their own news reports about local athletes and how the Games are experienced by their own nation.

In Glasgow, young people have been selected through the education department and many are already involved in producing news for school publications.

Caitlin, 16, said: "It is a massive privilege to be a part of such an exciting and dynamic opportunity.

"When you have your heart set on something, to be allowed even the smallest of insights into the way it works is a great boost.

"It will be such an honour to learn from those who have already established themselves in such a competitive field.

"It feels especially exciting to be involved in something extremely important to Glasgow and I can't wait to have my say on the Games and what they will mean for my city."

Future News 2014 is a joint project by Glasgow Life and the city council in partnership with the British Council, Tinopolis Interactive - sister company to Sunset + Vine, which is host broadcaster of the Games - The Herald and Times Group and ­Thomson Reuters.

Glasgow Life chairman Archie Graham said: "The eyes of the world will be on Glasgow 2014 and we are asking the next generation of global journalists and citizens to be at the heart of the action.

"They will have a chance to report on the Commonwealth Games and bring their own perspective to the story.

"More than that, by bringing these young people together they will have a chance to share their experience and learn about the important freedom of the press and expression and ethical reporting.

"Future News is an ambitious project which will have a positive impact on the lives of young people, not just here in Glasgow but right across the Commonwealth."

CONFERENCE director Tom Thomson, who is Herald and Times Group managing editor, described the conference as a unique and ambitious international project.

He added: "It puts Glasgow and Scotland firmly on the map with the potential future leaders of the media industry across the UK and Commonwealth.

"We hope Glasgow's Future News programme becomes a regular feature of the international media landscape.

"These aspiring journalists will have a rare opportunity to meet leading media practitioners, learn the basics of the business and consider the ethics and value of a free press to society."

Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of Guardian News and Media has also backed the project.

He said: "Press freedom and ethical reporting are of crucial importance, not only here in the UK but across the world.

"This project will allow these young journalists to discuss these issues and more, enshrining the values and experience which will help to shape how the next generation reports on the news.

"That is at the very heart of the values of the Commonwealth Games and I am delighted to support such an innovative and important project."

Lloyd Anderson, the director of the British Council in Scotland, said that Future News would provide a unique opportunity for the next generation of journalists from across the Commonwealth to begin to learn their trade, centered around one of the world's biggest sporting and cultural events.

vivienne.nicoll@eveningtimes.co.uk