Student reporters have capped off the 40th anniversary of Curtin\u2019s journalism program with a strong showing at the Journalism Education Association of Australia\u2019s Ossie Awards announced recently in Queensland.<\/p>\n
Curtin students were recognised with two national awards and a highly commended citation.<\/p>\n
The Just Causes<\/em> documentary series<\/a> took out the prestigious Dr Charles Stuart Prize for best student publication.<\/p>\n Curtin journalism lecturer Russell Bishop, who oversaw the project, said it was a big challenge to create 75 minutes of high quality content in 12 weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to think that our students are producing quality, substantial journalism that is regarded by their peers as being interesting and engaging work,\u201d Mr Bishop said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really is fantastic to win that award because the students had a really difficult semester and it required resilience to stay on track and create work that can be judged as the best work in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Bishop said the award reflected the amount of support students had received from staff at Curtin\u2019s School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts<\/a>, particularly the Creative Production Support Unit.<\/p>\n The award was judged by Michelle Etheridge, News Editor, News Limited, assisted by journalist Chantelle Kroehn. Ms Etheridge and Ms Kroehn said it was clear from the footage that the students had \u201cworked hard to secure interviews with a range of people on a diversity of subject areas\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe videos demonstrated that the students had dug deep to get to the bottom of each issue on which they were reporting,\u201d the judges said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe result was a series of balanced, well-presented and interesting reports.\u201d<\/p>\n Just Causes<\/i> is a current affairs series focusing on activists, and was put together by 15 students in the first semester of 2013. The series examined the Wilderness Society, Manna Inc, Gay Dads Australia, Stop Live Exports, the National Union of Students and the National Tertiary Education Union.<\/p>\n Steph Matthews, who took on a production and reporter role, said she learned more about journalism during the production of Just Causes<\/em> than in any other unit she\u2019d previously completed.<\/p>\n Co-producer Nick Lovering said the project was \u201cchallenging but extremely rewarding\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was as close as I imagine we could get to a real world situation,\u201d Mr Lovering said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the award is validation of the integrity of the journalism course.\u201d<\/p>\n Curtin\u2019s journalism program, the oldest and largest in Western Australia, turned 40 this year and celebrated with several keynote lectures – including one from former Media Watch host Jonathan Holmes<\/a>, and another from Curtin journalism graduate Steve Pennells, who in 2012 took out the nation\u2019s top journalism prize.<\/p>\n Another Curtin journalism student, Jacqueline Byrde, took top prize in her own right in the Best Feature Article (Online) for her V8 family tree<\/a> story.<\/p>\n