Students celebrate success at annual Journalism Awards
Tuesday 30 May 2017
The achievements of journalism students at the University of Salford were celebrated at a prestigious awards ceremony last week.
Industry professionals from the world of journalism joined students and their lecturers at the sixth annual University of Salford Journalism Awards, which took place at private members club, On the 7th.
The awards, which are funded by the Lady Monica Cockfield Memorial Trust, were presented by That’s Manchester’s Gemma Hepworth, with the keynote speech this year delivered by Vice and Huffington Post blogger Salma Haidrani.
Salma delivered a speech about being inspired to blog about her experiences as a British Muslim. 
Top industry judges
The awards were judged by industry experts, with winners and runners up of each award receiving feedback for their award entries from the judges.
This year’s Eddie Lowey award, which recognises students who have been outstanding during their time at the University of Salford, was won by final year journalism students Nathan Salt and Abigail Withey.
It was the second award of the night for final year student Abigail, who also won Quays News student of the year for her contribution to the student news site.
The Steve Panter Best News award was won by Gemma O’Reilly for her radio series The Undiagnosed: Save the Broken Hearts, which was also nominated for a Best Television award.
Judge Steve Panter, who worked at the Manchester Evening News for 25 years as an award-winning crime reporter, said of Gemma’s radio package: “this was a highly engaging three-part broadcast package about sudden and unexpected deaths from heart attacks among young people. Informative, emotive and compelling. Gemma’s determination to cover every angle was demonstrated by her travels to various parts of the country to secure enlightening interviews with victims’ families, medical professionals and high profile politicians.
Watch: UoS Journalism Awards 2017
The award for Best TV, judged by Lucy West, was awarded to Jennifer Smith, for her compelling news report about the struggle around accessing help for eating disorders. Jennifer won another award at this year’s ceremony, the Greatest Contribution to the community award, for her work with the charity Dance Syndrome, which was judged by Helen Nugent of Northern Soul.
The Best Radio journalism award was judged this year by Alex Wallis, regional news editor for Global North West. It was awarded to Inzy Rashid, for his report on the drug Spice in Manchester. Outside of University, Inzy has been working for BBC Radio Manchester, and recently travelled with Lancashire County Cricket Club to cover their pre-season tour of Dubai. Alex Wallis said Inzy is “working on a local/national and international level, tackling relevant and interesting topics in a capturing way”.
The Best Sports Journalism award was won by Matt Bullin for his Quays News report George Haigh Interview: The Oldest Ex-Professional Footballer in the World. Judge Howard Nurse, digital football editor at BBC Sport, said: Good journalism and storytelling with plenty of strong emotional content.”
Partnerships
The Lady Monica Cockfield Trust is a charitable trust which aims to help people from all backgrounds to prosper. The University of Salford industry partners have included BBC, ITV, ITN, Bauer and Global Radio, Trinity Mirror, News International, Newsquest, Manchester United, Lancashire Cricket Club and many more.
The full list of award winners can be seen here.
Find out more
Victoria Barker
0161 295 4779
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