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Wednesday 1 December 2010

Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism takes top spots in industry awards

Robin Staniforth, Amanda Ball and Chris Crawford, CBJ, collect their NCTJ awards

Nottingham Trent University's Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism (CBJ) and two of its graduates are celebrating after a string of award successes.

The Centre picked up two prestigious accolades at the National Council for the Training of Journalists' (NCTJ) accredited course performance awards. Its MA in Newspaper Journalism topped the postgraduate table and the university also took the top spot in the undergraduate table.

Adding to the success is Broadcast Journalism graduate, Simon Conway, who has scooped three awards for his final year documentary Glued to the Game which explores videogame addiction. He recently took away the Factual Category prize in the Royal Television Society Midlands 2010 Student Awards, the third year in a row the award has been won by a Nottingham Trent University graduate, and he will now go forward to the RTS National Awards.

Simon, who now works as a journalist at Metro Radio, also secured the Broadcast Journalist of the Year runner-up position in the Guardian Student Media Awards. Fellow graduate, Rosanna Brough, was also nominated for the same award. Earlier in the year, the same video won Simon the Best TV Feature accolade at the Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism's own consortium awards.

Simon said: "I'm thrilled to have won these awards. I've had a great start to my career and experienced some very proud moments."

Also celebrating is MA in Newspaper Journalism graduate, Jayne Garfitt, who was awarded the student Feature of the Year title at the National Council for the Training of Journalists' Awards for Excellence. All three students on the award shortlist were from the Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism at Nottingham Trent University.

Jayne submitted two features for the award. The first focused on assisted dying and featured a lady who travelled with a friend to Dignitas and a man who suffered from Motor Neurone Disease and was very strongly against assisted dying. The second featured an ecologist who travelled to Africa to see England in the World Cup via a charity triathlon - cycling across Africa, swimming across the Strait of Gibraltar and running an ultra marathon.

Jayne said: “I was really surprised and pleased just to be short listed for the award so to actually win it was amazing.”

Now working as a trainee reporter at the Nottingham Post, Jayne also won the Nottingham Trent University/Stoke Sentinel Student of the Year award while on her course.

Director of the Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism, Robin Staniforth, said: “Simon, Jayne and all our other graduates nominated for these awards can be very proud of their achievements. Our students and graduates have a sound history of award success and it's the exposure to these awards and our strong links with industry which mean they graduate with some great contacts and real-world experience.”

Professor Murray Pratt, Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities which hosts the Centre, added: "I'm delighted by all these award successes. The Centre's NCTJ awards are true recognition of the leading national profile that we have, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, for delivering fully rounded, expert-led training with tailored industry placement opportunities for our students, all backed up by first rate facilities. The success of the programmes is testimony to the dedication of the academics, technical and professional staff and students in creating a relevant and stimulating learning environment."