The Sun’s Column Idol competition open for entries

Young journalists across the UK will battle it out for the chance to have their column read by millions, in a Sun newspaper competition fronted by Myleene Klass and Amy Macdonald.

The annual competition, which was first launched by The Sun and Media Trust four years ago, will see two 16-25 year olds crowned Column Idol 2013.

Dominic Mohan, editor of The Sun, said: “This is a great opportunity to become part of Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper and could mark the start of a career in journalism. We’re looking for someone with strong views and opinions who has the ability to express these with wit and insight.”

This year is the first that prospective Scottish journalists will have the chance to enter, with the winning contestants having their column published in The Scottish Sun.

The competition, which is open for entries until the 12^th July, will see the young hopefuls whittled down to ten finalists, six for England and Wales and four for Scotland.

These ten will then be mentored by top journalists from both titles, who will help sculpt their raw writing talent into a piece of polished and professional journalism, before they compete for the top prize of a column in The Sun or The Scottish Sun.

The finalists’ columns will be judged by a panel including Mohan, The Scottish Sun’s editor Andrew Harries and Lorraine Kelly.

Katie Lloyd, deputy chief executive of Media Trust, said: “We’re proud to partner with The Sun for the fourth consecutive year to find raw, undiscovered talent.

“We’re also delighted to extend our partnership to include The Scottish Sun this year, giving us the chance to give even more young people the chance to get their voices heard.”