student awards
Where careers start T
Rory Buccheri reports on a bumper year for celebrating the best of student publications
he annual Student Publication Association’s National Conference and Awards (SPANC), which took
place in Exeter in April, was the charity’s largest yet, breaking last year’s record with 260 delegates attending from more than 150 student publications across the UK and Ireland. Now in its 13th year, SPANC was held for the second year in a row in the south west. The previous host, the University of Bristol’s student newspaper Epigram, went home with the most coveted award of Best Publication. The number of submissions for
SPANC demonstrates that students across the UK and Ireland are keen to see their journalistic work recognised. More than 1,320 entries were submitted across 24 categories, almost double the Press Awards’ 750 entries in 2024. “It is important we keep these awards free to enter for everyone,” says the SPA’s longest-serving trustee and founder of Journo Resources, Jem Collins. “Our industry is saturated with inequity in so many different ways, and the prevalence of pay-to-play awards only exacerbates this. “When there’s a financial barrier to
entering an award – even if it’s a small one – you’re no longer running a ceremony that’s there to elevate and celebrate the best people, but curating a small number of entries from people who already have a support system.” For Harriet Mogie, a third-year
student at Kingston University, winning the Best Reporter award was a source of validation and a boost when it came to believing in herself and her work. “Before going to the conference, I felt
incredibly out of place, and very aware I was from a completely different background to a lot of the people there. It’s something I have always been aware of going into journalism,” she says. “Hearing the different industry professionals talk about their experiences and meeting more people, I left feeling really optimistic about the
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future and like I had a world of options of what career path to pursue.” Chances to see your work recognised are also “a calling card to employers” and a “mark of great journalistic work”, according to Collins. “So many of our former winners are
now working in the industry doing amazing things. I cannot wait to see what this year’s cohort goes on to do,” she adds. SPANC is just the culmination of a
year full of events and organisation behind the scenes. As a national charity representing student media, the SPA organises regional events and online workshops, and offers pastoral support to publications struggling financially owing to funding cuts by universities. “We’ve now got 232 member publications across the UK and Ireland, and it’s mandated in our constitution that membership will always be free,” adds Collins. “That’s tens of thousands of people able to access community, training and support they wouldn’t otherwise be able to access.” The SPA is entirely volunteer run, with a team of fewer than 30 people involved as trustees and executive, project and regional officers. While conference panels tackled a
wide variety of topics from covering your local patch to sketch writing and making your features sing, the
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SPA’s annual general meeting brought up the tricky topic of future-proofing the charity. “The SPA is where I truly found the
people that understood me and support me to this day. I know I’m not the only one who feels that way,” says Collins. “But the SPA is less than 15 years old and is entirely run by volunteers who all do this around full-time jobs and study. It’s really, really important that the SPA continues but it needs support – from both our members and the wider industry.” Newly elected chair Matthew Stothard is optimistic about the future, and grateful to have inherited “solid foundations” from former chair Jack Walsh.
“I’m honoured to be leading the SPA
into the next year. In the coming year, we will particularly be looking to enhance our offering of training and networking events to ensure our members see SPA support them throughout the year, as well as at our national conference,” says Stothard. A key strategic focus for the coming
We want to connect those who have made an impact in the media industry with their former student publications
year is maintaining strong relationships with alumni who are now working in the industry.
“Some of the best careers start in
student journalism,” says alumni officer Alex Cooper. “We want to connect those who have gone on to make an impact in the media industry with their former student publications. If you are keen to keep in touch with the place where it all started for you, then please join our alumni network.”
NICK MATTHEWS
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