UTS Journalism Awards 2007
Best Print News Story (Undergraduate)
Highly Commended
Hayden Guthrie
Jessica Matthews
Joint Winners
Kit Yap & Thao Tran
Matthew Knott
Kit Yap and Thao Tran
This strong story 'Residents query donations', published on the SMH Grassroots Online in the runup to the State election, uncovered a tie-up between political donations and a company's success in getting longer operating hours for its factory despite the objections of local residents.
Matthew Knott
Matthews's story 'Labor, Greens at loggerheads over coal terminal' documented a battle brewing between environmental activists and the Labor party over a development proposal by a consortium of six mining companies to build a new coal loader at Newcastle Port. Written for the Herald's Grassroots online site, the story reported on claims that the governmnent had effectively approved the project but was stalling on an announcement to avoid controversy during the State election.
Best Print News Story (Postgraduate)
Highly commended
Jasmine Fathy
Belinda Lopez
Winner
Stephen Shore
Covering a local reporting round Stephen uncovered the story that a collection of art works worth half a million dollars donated to the people of Hornsby had been gathering dust in storage because the Council could find nowhere to show it. Given a big spread on the front page of the Hornsby Advocate under a banner headline 'Philistines' directed at the Council, Stephen's story stirred up a controversy that saw the council taking action over a long sidelined push for a local arts centre.
Best Print News Feature (Undergraduate/Postgraduate)
Highly Commended
Benjamin Rossleigh
Belinda Lopez
Winner
Melissa Sequeira
Amid fears that without Government assistance the volunteer coastal patrol won't be able to continues its vital service, Melissa Sequeira investigates the worst financial crisis in the history of the volunteer coastal patrol. Her story, 'The sinking fate of marine rescue services', demonstrates excellent research with a focus on good sources and solid information.
Best Print Feature (Undergraduate)
Highly Commended
Ellen Li
Dilenjit Singh
Ju Yeon Jung
Joint Winners
Benjamin Ball
Eliza Tickle
Benjamin Ball's story explores, in a fresh way, the impact of refugees and migrants on a middle-class community. Benjamin met a trolley pusher at a local supermarket which led him on a journey into the hidden labour force of people from the Middle East and Asia - people who travel long distances to provide largely unskilled labour in affluent suburbs where "the local community would come to a standstill without them".
Eliza Tickle's story, 'Turning a blind eye to fashion', which takes a totally unexpected look at fashion, documents the love affair with fashion enjoyed by a number of young people with impaired vision. Strong voices emerge from the young people who are making a career in the fashion industry.
Best Print Feature (Postgraduate)
Highly Commended
Mary Fallon
Ellice Mol
Winner
Rowan Stewart
Rowan Stewart's story on MyDeathSpace.com investigates the macabre website that allows one to search by keyword through hundreds of sites dedicated to the deceased. He found the site got around 80,000 hits a day, mostly from young people. Rowan's piece is a fascinating insight into morbid facets of the web and the more bizarre manifestations of web communication.
Best Investigative Print Feature
Highly Commended
Rita Yousef & Nicole Eastaway
Jessica Darnbrough
Winner
Belinda Lopez
Belinda Lopez produced a body of work focused on the local council and development stories in the Canada Bay area. She pursued the stories while working at the local newspaper The Village Voice. She did company searches, land searches and dozens of interviews to piece her reports together. She showed the tenacity and curiosity of an excellent reporter. It was disappointing when she was pipped at the post by the Sydney Morning Herald but her local reports nevertheless stood up very well.
Best Radio News Story
Winners
Nicholas Del Din and
Gemma Valpiani
Nicholas and Gemma covered the same news story from two different
angles. interviewing the parents of a 19-year-old man bashed to death by his mentally ill friend. The pair spent two days getting to know Sydney's Supreme Court and in the end covered the murder trial of the young man convicted of the murder. For the two first-year students, it was a steep learning curve and this was their first ever radio story.
Best Radio Feature Story
Highly Commended
Dilenjit Singh & Sin Sarah Yeo
Leah Jessop
Winner
Leanne Connell's winning story reports on the harrowing tale of Roseanne Catt who was wrongly imprisoned for conspiring to kill her husband, the 10 years she spent in prison and her unsuccessful battle for compensation.
Best Radio Current Affairs / Public Affairs Story
Highly Commended
Ben Rossleigh
Joint Winners
Sin Sarah Yeo
Dilenjit Singh
Over the last six months, Sin (Sarah) Yeo has become a prolific reporter for 2SER FM's national current affairs program, The Wire. Her story 'Singapore Protests' includes an interview with a member of the Singapore Democratic Party recently arrested for protesting against the Singapore Government over its alleged sale of arms to the Burmese Junta. As well, Sarah talks with a representative from a student group also holding rallies but unlike the Singapore Democratic Party the students have opted for the only legal way to protest in Singapore - and that's to hold their rallies indoors.
Dilenjit Singh's is a well researched and recorded piece that exposes the failure of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association Mobile Muster scheme to deal with the recycling of mobile phones. Dilen, who also reports for 2SER, shows considerable talent in using location sound in the telling of his stories - and in this one there's also a liberal dose of difference of opinion.
Best Television News Story
Highly Commended
Bianca Martins, Ben Rossleigh & Matilda Hedvall
Joint winners
Alex Engel
Karen Tong
Alex Engel wins this category for her story for UTS Journalism's Newsday about the political issues facing carers. Alex shot and edited the story herself; she identified the issues, interviewed Bennelong candidate Maxine McKew to produce a tightly edited news story
Karen Tong covered the recent Burma Protest in Martin Place on assignment for Newsday. Working at short notice, she covered the emotional protest against Australian investment in Burma. She demonstrated the skills she will need as a video journalist - the ability to identify a story combined with strong visual skills. She edited and scripted the story herself to produce a strong news story
Best Television Feature Story
Winner
Stuart O'Rourke
for his story on Homelessness
One of the strengths of video journalism is its capacity to tell the stories of people who rarely get a voice on television. Stuart conducted a compelling interview with one of Sydney's homeless men and cut it together with other interviews which highlighted the issues facing Sydney citizens who sleep in the streets. The judges are glad to report that MSN broadcast this story as it deserved to reach a wide audience.
Best Television Current Affairs / Public Affairs Story
Winner
Jessica Darnbrough
Jessica Darnbrough wins this category for her story on the ecoonomic challenges facing Australia's young designers. This story is thoughtfully told, well researched and has some excellent framing shots. It is of great interest to a younger audience. The judges commend Jessica on an outstanding effort.
Best Online Feature
Highly Commended
Marie Therese Bray
Winner
Bianca Martins
Sixty-six year old Alberto Dominguez was a Sydneysider. He was one of the unlucky ones who died in the North Tower of the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001. Six years later, his DNA is finally identified by the New York City Medical Examiner's Office and his family in Croydon informed. Bianca skilfully tells Albert's story against the backdrop of inaccuracies in the reporting of his case by the Australian media. It leaves us with a corrected record of the facts so far and some good insights into the gaps between personal loss and political high drama.
Best Work of Photojournalism
Highly Commended
Zoya Sheftalovich
Joseph (JJ) Sassine
Winner
Myles Formby
Myles Formby's photographic essay on the DIVA Awards is beautifully realised in velvety black and white. The images are graphic and powerful; they take the viewer backstage to an alternative world of theatre, theatrics and potent performance. The judges commented on Myles' sophisticated approach and superb technique.
Best Contribution to Editorial Production
Joint Winners
Mitchell Smith & Reidar von Hirsch
Bonny Symons-Brown & Jeanivive McGregor
Mitchell Smith & Reidar von Hirsch were the online editors of Festival News, the daily four-page news broadsheet produced by UTS Journalism during the Sydney Writers' Festival at the end of May this year. Mitchell and Reidar designed the online edition, producing a clean, crisp and inviting look. They also introduced the new innovation of a photographic gallery. They worked 12-hour shifts, often to three am, producing the publication in the hub of Festival News' editorial room. They liaised closely with the editor and sub-editors. The result speaks for itself.
Bonny Symons-Brown & Jeanavive McGregor have been the untiring, dedicated and professional editors of UTS Journalism's online web magazine, Reportage during 2007. They have held weekly story conferences and effectively marshalled the talents of our journalism students. The current edition of Reportage carries stories on climate change, the terror laws, media spinbusters, the hidden casualties of industrial reform and funding cuts to English programs.
Best Professional Project Masters
Highly Commended
Victoria Strobl
Elizabeth Tay
Brooke Gorman
Winner
Jordana Rooz
Inspired initially by the Dove ad campaign about a search for beauty that acknowledges the diversity of women of all shapes and sizes, editing and publishing enthusiast Jordana Rooz explored the possibilities of a new magazine, devising and designing a dummy for a magazine called Real, planning and producing everything - from advertising to editorial - with real women - and with real women in mind.
Best Studies Project Masters
Highly Commended
Fleur Laurence
Meaghan Vosz
Winner
Stephanie Raison
Stephanie Raison's winning work is entitled Reporting immigration: A cross-national study of Australian and Italian journalism practice
This project explores the similarities and differences between Australian and Italian reporting of immigration issues. A comparison of the two approaches not only highlights what is wrong with immigration reporting but provides examples of how the media can improve its representation of immigration issues. For example, the use of a wide variety of sources by Italian journalists is something that could easily be adopted by Australian journalists. Furthermore, Italian journalists include comments by a variety of political parties across the spectrum, whereas in Australia only Liberal and Labor are generally considered worth talking to.
Best work by a first year undergraduate
Winner
Hayden Guthrie
Hayden took off running in terms of an obvious determination to acquire on-the-ground reporting experience during his first year of study. And he has subsequently shown plenty of staying power, assembling over two semesters an impressive portfolio of news stories - many of them published - ranging from local development debates and State election issues to a story about the problem of unregistered AWAs, which was sparked by concerns about his own workplace agreement. An impressive achievement.
Best work by a second year undergraduate
Highly commended
Matthew Knott
Ben Rossleigh
Winner
Bianca Martins
Bianca's portfolio positively bulges with published work from suburban newspapers including the Liverpool Leader and a number of front page stories for the Canterbury Bankstown Express. She has also proved to be a strong all rounder in terms of multi-skilling, showing considerable promise in both television and online Journalism, including reporting as part of the team providing coverage for the Herald's Grassroots online site in the run-up to the State election.
Reporter of the Year (Undergraduate)
CITATION
Highly Commended
Zoya Sheftalovich
Michael Romei
Winner
Bonny Symons-Brown
Bonny has been an outstanding student - and an outstanding reporter - throughout her degree. This year, apart from two successful stints of work experience at AAP with numerous news stories published, Bonny has written extensively for Reportage Online, which she co-edited all year with Jeanavive McGregor. She was also a key reporter for Festival News and became the founding editor of the Sydney Pen blog, a new blog for the Sydney arm of Pen International, intended to extend the reach of its message about repression and censorship of writers. Bonny was also one of the team of UTS reporters whose work was published on the Herald's Grassroots Online in the run-up to the State election - and she is currently busy on the upcoming federal election, as a commissioning editor and contributor for www.electiontracker.com, a new initiative ensuring a youth perspective on the coverage of the federal election.
Reporter of the Year (Postgraduate)
Highly commended
Belinda Lopez
Lauren Dubois
Winner
Stephen Shore
Stephen's portfolio of news stories and features reflects the enthusiasm for reporting - and the determined push for publication - that he has displayed since he first came to UTS as a postgraduate. It includes a range of published stories, with strong local stories in suburban newspapers - one a front page scoop about council mishandling of a bequest to local citizens - plus profiles and coverage for Festival News and a series of stories on investment and technology published in Investment and Technology magazine.
Ellen De Gratie International Student Award
Winner
Ju Yeon Jung
A final year undergraduate from Korea, Ju Yeon has shifted her interests from science to developing a great passion for journalism during her time at UTS. Ju Yeon is an accomplished all-rounder: she's excelled in both theory and practice - she loves critical analysis and essay writing as well as conducting interviews and writing feature stories for print.
Ju Yeon presently works as a line reporter for the Community Relations Commission and wants to travel to other countries before returning home ... that's if she can't convince her parents to let her stay on here in Sydney and do an Honours degree in Journalism.