School of Media and Communication students nominated for prestigious national student journalism awards

The BJTC Student Journalism awards celebrate outstanding original work by student journalists

Students at the University of Leeds’ School of Media and Communication have earned two nominations for this year's prestigious national BJTC (Broadcast Journalism Training Council) Student Journalism awards, for stories praised by judges as giving a “voice to the voiceless”.

The BJTC is one of the largest independent journalism accreditation bodies in the UK, accrediting more than 50 courses at over 40 different educational institutions. This includes degrees at every level of higher education, HND, Foundation, Undergraduate and Postgraduate. 

Open to students enrolled on courses which have achieved full BJTC accreditation status, the BJTC Student Journalism awards celebrate original work by student entrants and reward evidence of editorial content and quality, quality of writing, technical qualities of production, originality and flair versus accuracy.

This year students at the School of Media and Communication have been nominated in two categories.

Best TV Newsday

A newsday by third years in 2023/24 has been nominated for Best TV Newsday. Produced by a team of 13 TV producers and reporters, the newsday featured stories from across West Yorkshire. These included an emotional lead story that had not been covered by the local media, a difficult story on anti-Semitism, and coverage of Wakefield’s famous rhubarb festival. It was one of 15 newsdays held by second-year and third-year students throughout the academic year as part of their BJTC qualification.

Presenters Heidi Tam (left) and Jessica Sansoa (right) helm the nominated TV newsday

Katie Ahearn, who took on the role of TV Editor for the nominated Newsday and now works as a multimedia reporter for Bauer Radio, said:

“I’m really excited that our newsday is up for a BJTC award. Despite how busy the day was, it was really rewarding to see all the skills we’d learned during our degrees finally come together to develop an industry-standard TV programme. It gave us all the confidence boost that we could step out of that room and straight into a journalism career.” 

This was only the students’ third ‘broadcast’ output day and to produce stories of this quality midway through their assessments was incredible. I am so proud of all they achieved. In fact, there were so many excellent newsdays produced by the students, it was hard to pick the programme entry for the awards.

Best TV Sports Journalism

Christian Morante has been nominated for Best TV Sports Journalism for a timely piece about grassroots rugby in Wales, shining a light on the untold stories of the fight to preserve the essence of rugby at its roots. Christian, who is now a Channel 4 Production Trainee at True North Productions in Leeds, produced the piece for his final project module – the equivalent of a dissertation.

Recent graduate Christian Morante presenting his feature on grassroots rugby in Wales

Christian said: “My nomination for this award is a testament to the incredible three years I spent at the University of Leeds. From day one the university equipped me with the skills to create a documentary worthy of this recognition. Moreover, their support and guidance have been instrumental in helping me achieve my dream job, producing documentaries for channels like Channel 4 and Sky!”

The Co-chair of Judges, BBC Breakfast Editor Richard Frediani, praised the finalists for reporting on “relevant and important” subjects and for giving a “voice to the voiceless”. “The future of journalism is in good hands with these new recruits,” he added.

We are incredibly proud of our students' achievements and delighted to see their hard work, courage, talent and creativity recognised on a national stage. These nominations highlight the exceptional quality of teaching and learning at our school, as well as our commitment to preparing students for successful careers in journalism and media. It is always inspiring to see our students excelling in areas that showcase their journalistic skills and passion for storytelling.

The BJTC Awards Ceremony will be held on 12 December 2024 at Sky.