BBC's Lyse Doucet teams up with Rania Kurdi to launch competition in Jordan

Launching on Thursday 1 March, the month-long competition aims to introduce younger audiences to the BBC's English news programmes and rewards two winners with laptop computers and the chance to broadcast to 42 million radio listeners around the globe plus millions more online.

Lyse and Rania will celebrate the competition with a special debate programme at Zara Expo in Amman on Monday 12 March and will share their expertise as part of the judging panel.

Lyse says:

"BBC NewsMaker is our way of getting to the heart of the issues that matter to young people in Jordan. It will help us identify new, young talent and bring exclusive stories from Jordan to millions of English speaking audiences on radio and online."

Rania adds: "I'm really proud to be part of the BBC NewsMaker competition which is targeting the talented Jordanian youth. Personally I believe that the youth in Jordan has a lot of potential and these initiatives can encourage them to bring out their talents and express themselves through writing. I expect a high number of entries to be submitted and I'm looking forward to evaluating these entries and hearing the top stories broadcasted."

Liliane Landor, Editor BBC World Service News and Current Affairs, adds: "In Jordan people mainly listen to BBC English radio programmes online via bbcnews.com. Since Jordan also has a thriving community of people already commenting on big issues through blogs and interactivity online, I am expecting a very high standard of entries for BBC NewsMaker. I am sure young Jordanians will deliver some thrilling stories for our programmes, informing and intriguing audiences around the world."

The Jordan office of the PR agency ASDA'A is helping the BBC handle logistics on the ground, including the distribution of 10,000 BBC NewsMaker entry forms in key locations across Amman and Irbid including universities, cafés and health clubs attended by non-professional journalists aged 20-30 years old, the competition will also reward five runners up with MP3 players.

The BBC's English output is available in Jordan online on bbcnews.com.

To enter BBC NewsMaker online or follow the competition visit bbcworldservice.com/newsmaker. The final date for submitting entries is March 31, 2007.