For Journalism students at the University of Winchester to win any of these awards would be hugely significant for a manner of reasons. As far as publicity goes, to win such a prestigious award would direct attention towards the University of Winchester's Journalism courses, and drive focus and crucial traffic towards our deservedly treasured Winchester News Online publication.
As I write this, many people's faces spring to mind, who, I feel, could easily put up strong competition, if not, win, any of these awards. Despite the shortlist consisting of mostly Russell Group Universities, there are a few educational institutes which are certainly on a par with the meagre reputation of that of the University of Winchester e.g. Nottingham Trent University who have two entrants this year for the category of Broadcast Journalist of the Year alone! I mean, come on, if we can't muster up one credible journalist for the Guardian's shortlist, and Nottingham Trent have two, then there is something seriously wrong.
The notorious Guardian Student Media Awards are unfortunately now closed to new entries, but if we prepare now then we can triumph in every category next year. This year there are six categories of awards, which include: Publication of the Year, Reporter of the Year, Writer of the Year, Photographer of the Year, Digital Journalist of the Year, and Broadcast Journalist of the Year.
For Publication of the Year, there is indeed some very credible entrants this year. The University of Manchester's The Mancunion, and Kingston University's the River, offer very good arguments for claiming the prize, with both being very content-rich and engaging. However, Winchester News Online offers a greater sense of interactivity as well as consisting of intriguing content. Both these challengers offer very little in the way of video; they certainly don't produce live news bulletins, but where they come up trumps is that their writers are clearly gifted wordsmiths who produce content thick and fast. If Winchester News Online improves it's feature content and reputation, it would easily take the prize as Publication of the Year due to it being both more attractive and user-friendly than potential rivals. To get noticed we need to promote and nominate WINOL, or it will be forever condemned to the depths of obscurity and anonymity, while lazier and archaic publications reap the rewards through lack of evolutionary competition.
On an individual level there are also some very gifted people who could enter and win the categories of Reporter of the Year, Writer of the Year, and Photographer of the Year. As proved with the Gonzo pieces - where the third years followed an MP on their campaign trail - we can make great copy and I strongly believe that some of the footage would not look out of place on a television programme such as Channel 4's Dispatches. And what's more, with the dedication and lengths that many reporters are willing to go for a great story for WINOL, what excuse is there not to nominate yourself or for others not to nominate you? The same goes for Writer of the Year and Photographer of the Year - Many writers and one particular photographer spring to mind as I write. It's all about putting yourselves out there!
As far as Winchester News Online is concerned, it will win next year's Publication of the Year- If it doesn't then then justice has not been fulfilled.
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