The FJA Runners Up & Winners 2024

On Thursday 11th April, we welcomed many talented pupils from schools across the region along with their teachers and families to out Catalyst Building here at Staffordshire University for the Future Journalist Awards Ceremony. 

The event kicked off with our awards ceremony, where anticipation was high as the winners and runners-up were unveiled. Following the awards presentation, attendees were treated to refreshments and had the opportunity to embark on exclusive tours of our state-of-the-art newsroom facilities. It was a memorable afternoon filled with celebration, networking, and exploration of the cutting-edge resources available to aspiring journalists.

Our winners and runners up for this year’s competition were:

Years 3 – 4:

Written Runner-up:

  • Lucy Wright – St Gregory’s Catholic Academy: 

‘PETS’

  • Monroe Whitehead-Rattan – St Gregory’s Catholic Academy: 

‘SAVING THE WORLD IN FASHION’

Written Winner:

  • Hadi Yaqoob – St Gregory’s Catholic Academy: 

‘FLOODING CONCERNS’

Audio Winner:

  • Eden George – St Gregory’s Catholic Academy:

‘PEACE AND WAR’

Video Runner Up:

  • Noel Chan – St Gregory’s Catholic Academy: 

‘INTERVIEW WITH A PANDA’

Video Winner:

  • Gabriella Phillips – St Gregory’s Catholic Academy: 

‘ATHLETICS’

Years 5 – 6

Written Runner Up:

  • Antoni Zakrzewski – St Gregory’s Catholic Academy:

 ‘EGG-CITING DISCOVERIES’

  • Isla Boon – St Gregory’s Catholic Academy:

‘DANCE SHOW REVIEW’

Written Winner:

  • Laila Redmond – St Gregory’s Catholic Academy:

‘KNIFE CRIME’

Audio Winner:

  • Lilianna Melnicka – St Gregory’s Catholic Academy:

‘PIANO TEACHER INTERVIEW’

Video Runner Up:

  • Isabella Walker – St Gregory’s Catholic Academy:

‘THE BENEFITS OF READING’

  • Bethany Damjanovic – St Gregory’s Catholic Academy:

‘DOG TRAINING AND COMMANDS’

Video Winner:

  • Maheen Alyas – St Gregory’s Catholic Academy:

‘OUTDOOR SAFETY’

Years 7 – 9

Written Runner Up:

  • William Ashington – Painsley Catholic College:

‘AMPUTEE LIFE’

  • Penelope Chatterley-Bailey – Painsley Catholic College:

‘AERIAL ARTS’

Written Winner:

  • Istvan Toth – Painsley Catholic College:

‘A GUIDE TO WEALTH’

Audio Runner Up:

  • Harry Stoddart – Painsley Catholic College:

‘STOKE CITY FC HISTORY’

  • Zachary Challinor – Painsley Catholic College:

‘KEN BLOCK FEATURE’

Audio Winner:

  • Haniel Ifatumo – Painsley Catholic College:

‘THE INVINCIBLES AND 2004 SEASON’

Video Runner Up:

  • Celia Chandler – Painsley Catholic College:

‘WHY PLAY RUGBY?’

  • Nikita Krasovs – Painsley Catholic College:

‘RED DEAD REDEMPTION’

Video Winner:

  • Cameron Stubbs – Painsley Catholic College:

‘CLIMATE CHANGE’

Years 10 – 11

Written Runner Up:

  • Ella Wright – The Orme Academy:

‘TEENS UNDER PRESSURE’

  • Hannah Franklin – Painsley Catholic College:

‘FAST FASHION’

Written Winner: 

  • Millie Bradshaw – Painsley Catholic College:

‘UK NET ZERO COMMITMENT’

Audio Runner Up:

  • Urooj Asif – Painsley Catholic College

‘ISLAM RELIGION’

Audio Winner:

  • Hanna Biju – St Joseph’s College

‘FEMINISM’

Video Winner:

  • Liam Harrison – The Orme Academy

‘COMMENTARY VIDEO’

Years 12 – 13

Written Runner Up:

  • Emily Piekos – Painsley Catholic College

‘DOMESTIC ABUSE’

  • James Salt – Painsley Catholic College

‘THE PANDEMIC & MENTAL HEALTH’

Written Winner:

  • Kara Perry – Painsley Catholic College

‘ARE WOMEN BECOMING VICTIMS OF THE ONCE TRUSTED POLICE FORCE?

Nigel Howle – Howle Communications

Nigel Howle who owns Howle communications and is a former lecturer of Sports journalism at Staffordshire University commented on being part of the future journalism awards 2024 on being a special guest at these years event. 

Nigel Howel said “I’m delighted to be a special guest for the Staffordshire University Future Journalism Awards. The awards are a positive initiative, offering a practical, hands-on introduction to the world of news and media for young people. That’s vital in a world where there’s lots of noise from social media. As someone who has always worked in and around the media, I’m passionate about developing trained, professional storytellers.”  

With over twenty-years of experience in the journalism industry Howel communications was set up in mid-2007 helping companies with their communications strategy. 

Nigel’s’ PR company provides media training to companies both in the public and private sector offering a variety of different services including press releases, event management, crisis management, internal communications as well media training. 

You can find out more about the work Howel communications do click on the link https://public-relations-consultants.co.uk/

Exciting News: Introducing our Special Guests

Only one month to go until it’s time to honour the up-and-coming bright stars with the Future Journalist Awards Ceremony. This year, we received an incredible number of outstanding entries, and we greatly value your involvement.

We have secured three incredible industry professionals to come along to this years event to inspire and motivate our talented young people across the county. Without our special guests, the event wouldn’t be the same and we are very excited to be able to announce them.

The three special guests that will be attending the awards this year are ‘TNT Sports’ Matt Smith; and BBC presenter Lucas Yeomans.

These industry experts will be a wonderful addition to the event, and we are thrilled to have them join us. Stay tuned for our special guest’s upcoming individual blog posts to discover more about their professional journey and background.

We can’t wait to see you there!

Student Workshops

Attention teachers! Did your school take part in a Future Journalist workshop this year? 

If not, here’s what you missed out on… 

The student workshops have been a great success, we had a significant number of entries from those schools that have participated. Entries for the competition are now closed and we eagerly await the judge’s announcement of the winners. 

During the workshops we delved deep into the world of journalism, teaching the students how to use a variety of equipment we use in our day to day and providing advice on writing and interviewing techniques.  

Some of the areas covered were: 

  • Using the IXM microphones and showing how they worked 
  • How to operate a camera and the different ways to make a film piece look as best as it can 
  • Writing and interview techniques as well as how to write a good script 

The workshops provided a basis for being a good journalist incorporating audio, visual and written. These core values once learned how to do properly can provide anyone with the foundations of being a good journalist. 

This also gave a chance for the students to use their own ideas, being as creative as possible as well as independence as the task was very open to focus on areas, they were most interested in. There was a lot of really great ideas discussed and this showed in the entries submitted. 

It was great to see all the ‘future journalists’ of tomorrow working hard and creating some great pieces. It was very difficult to narrow down all the different entries as they all had great ideas and the students had clearly put a lot of effort into their work. All great qualities to becoming a future journalist! 

We hope all the schools who took part enjoyed the workshops, we had great feedback from the schools that did, and we patiently await the awards day on Thursday, April 11 in Staffordshire University’s Catalyst building. To keep updated make sure to check our social media and regularly uploaded blog posts. Hope to see you all there. 

Good luck! 

Entries are now closed – Thank you for your applications

Entries for the Future Journalist Awards 2024 are now closed. Thank you for so many amazing applications across the different age groups.

Entries will now be given to our judges to decide three finalists for each individual category.  

Our judging event will take place this week and we will keep you updated about all the next steps of the FJAs, leading right up until the awards event in April.

A few key things to look out for in the meantime are:

  • Our special guest announcements
  • Behind the scenes posts on our socials 
  • Information regarding the finalists 
  • Awards ceremony information
  • Meet the organisers posts

We have been really impressed with the standard of this year’s applications and have thoroughly enjoyed reading, listening, or watching every entry. 

With the awards event just over a month away, updates will be posted regularly on our blog and across all social media platforms – search Staffs Future Journalist awards on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.

Good luck!

Introducing our final judge: Sonya Farrall

Sonya Farrall who owns PR Agency Baba Baboon and who has previously guest lectured the Journalism and Digital Media students here at Staffordshire University is our final judge to be judging the entries for the 2024 Future Journalist Awards. 

We are delighted to have Sonya return as one of our esteemed judges as we get ready for another exciting year of the Future Journalist Awards.

Sonya’s journey into the world of media began here at Staffs, where she laid the foundation for a remarkable career ahead. Sonya made a name for herself in the media over the years, learning a great deal and developing her skills along the way.

Reflecting on her journey, Sonya commented 

“Having worked in the media myself and also being a Staffordshire University alumni, it is great to support the Future Journalist Awards once again. I think the awards are brilliant and a great way to encourage future journalists. The media is forever evolving and it is great to see what younger people can create via their entries – which from previous experience, have always been outstanding. I am really looking forward to being a judge once again and supporting such great initiative.”

We are incredibly grateful to Sonya for her unwavering commitment to the Future Journalist Awards and her ongoing assistance. Together, let us embrace the opportunity to celebrate and empower the next generation of storytellers.

The FJA is still accepting applications, and they will conclude this Friday, March 1st.  

Introducing our third judge: Ian Bayley

Ian Bayley has been confirmed as a judge for the 2024 future journalist awards. Ian has lots of experience in the sports journalism industry, covering football clubs around the country and having worked at The Sentinel newspaper covering Stoke City.

 

Ian is Award Leader for the, `BA Hons Professional Sports Writing and Broadcasting along. with also being a Senior Lecturer in Sports Journalism at Staffordshire University.

Talking about taking part in the future journalist awards 2024 judging event Ian Bailey said:

“I’ve been involved with the future journalist awards since its inception it’s a great initiative for our students as a learning tool and as a career preparation tool, but I think for youngsters in schools it’s a great way to engage them in the idea of journalism and possibly the idea of a career in journalism.” 

“It’s always good to see the content youngsters are producing and how that content changes each year. In the earlier days of the future journalism awards it was all about celebrity, sport, and entertainment whereas in the last two or three years we’ve seen greater concerns about matters linked to the environment, and climate change for example.” 

The closing date for entries for this year’s competition is Friday, March 1, 2024. If you have any questions about how to enter the FJA’s please email futurejournalist@staffs.ac.uk

Keep a look out for further judges’ announcements coming soon via the Future Journalist Awards blog https://blogs.staffs.ac.uk/futurejournalist/enter/blog/ and our social media channels on X,  TikTok and LinkedIn.

Introducing our second judge: Ian Whittell

Ian Whittell has been confirmed as a judge for the 2024 future journalist awards. Ian has lots of experience in the sports journalism industry covering Manchester City, Manchester United, Sunderland and Newcastle United football clubs.

Alongside being a freelance journalist and owner of Whittell & Winrow, Ian also lectures on the BA and MA sports journalism course at Staffordshire University. 

Commenting on being part of the judging panel for this year’s awards Ian said:

“The future journalist awards is something I’m really pleased and proud to because I believe in helping to develop future journalists, the quality of the work is so high I enjoy seeing the work that the pupils produce there is a tremendous amount of talent, I really look forward to seeing what they produce.”

“My advice to anyone entering the competition would be choose something your most interested in, make sure that your work is fair, accurate and balanced, communicate with people to get the newest news out of a story to ensure the accuracy of your work. If you’re writing a story, be creative use your imagination paint the picture to the reader.”

“Look at examples of work in industry to get an idea of what you want your work to look like whether that be a newspaper, radio, or TV coverage.”  

The closing date for entries in this year’s competition is Friday, March 1, 2024. If you have any questions about how to enter the FJA’s please email futurejournalist@staffs.ac.uk

Keep a look out for further judges’ announcements coming soon via the Future Journalist Awards blog https://blogs.staffs.ac.uk/futurejournalist/enter/blog/ and our social media channels on X,  TikTok and LinkedIn.

Introducing our first judge: Nigel Howle

Nigel Howle, who owns Howle Communications and has lectured in Sports Journalism and Sport Public Relations at Staffordshire University, commented on being part of the Future Journalist awards 2024 judging panel. 

Judging this year’s written entries, Nigel said: “I’m delighted to be asked. The awards are a positive initiative, offering a practical, hands-on introduction to the world of news and media for young people. 

“That’s vital in a world where there’s lots of noise from social media. As someone who has always worked in and around the media, I’m passionate about developing trained, professional storytellers. 

“My advice is to be yourself and tell a story your passionate about. Read journalism online and in newspapers, listen to the radio, and watch TV. 

“The best journalists will always explain things simply, making any topic easy to understand. Put yourself in the position of the reader or listener, what do they need to know from you?”

With over twenty years of experience in the journalism industry, Howle Communications was set up in mid-2007 to assist companies with their public relations and communication strategies. 

Nigel provides media training to companies both in the public and private sector, offering a variety of different services including press releases, event management, crisis management, and internal communications as well as media training. 

You can find out more about the work Howle Communications do here:  https://public-relations-consultants.co.uk/

The closing date for entries in this year’s competition is Friday, March 1, 2024. If you have any questions about how to enter the FJA’s please email futurejournalist@staffs.ac.uk

Keep a look out for further judges’ announcements coming soon via the Future Journalist Awards blog https://blogs.staffs.ac.uk/futurejournalist/enter/blog/ and our social media channels on X,  TikTok and LinkedIn.

Participant Spotlight – Success Stories

Each year the Future Journalist Awards produce a number of success stories. We receive a variety of submissions that enable participants to create enjoyable content that they feel passionate about. 

Success during the FJAs can come in a multitude of different way, such as:

  • Demonstrating your creativity. 
  • Speaking about subjects that are important to you.
  • Showing passion about something you love.
  • Sharing a positive message.
  • Creating content that immerses your viewers/readers.

We’ve looked back at some previous entries that particularly caught our eye when submitted and are great examples of what the FJAs are all about.

In 2021, year 5 student Abigail reviewed her favourite books, the Harry Potter series. Abigail’s review was very enlightening as well as being a pleasure to watch.

The passion she has for the Harry Potter books shows in the video, which engulfs viewers. This enabled her to give a brief synopsis of the series to inform viewers about the plot. 

Abigail’s delivery and camera work were both reasons the video made the final. This is a brilliant foundation for Abigail to build on, encouraging her to continue to review her favourite books and enjoy them that little bit more.  

In 2020, year 8 student Max produced a brilliant video to raise awareness about climate change. His video was very informative, easy to follow and touched on an important issue he feels strongly about. 

This is a great example of how to use journalism to tackle serious issues. It enables people like Max to voice their beliefs about serious subjects, and Max did it in an excellent way. 

Year 9 Daisy was 2019’s winner with her video showing us three tips on how to keep safe on the internet. 

Daisy was able to produce a superb video that shares essential tips when it comes to online safety. This submission stood out due to the importance and timelessness of the subject.

The use of transitions enabled Daisy to show off her editing skills and allowed the video to flow making it a fascinating watch. The video also shares a very positive message which gives an added sense of enjoyment whilst watching and encourages others to do the same online. 

These were all contributing factors as to why Daisy’s submissions was a resounding success and went on to win the award.

All of the above submissions can be found on our YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/@staffordshirefuturejournalist/videos

Examples like these can help you with your own ideas and will allow you to become the Future Journalist Awards’ next success story – good luck!