More than a quarter of nominations in NCTJ Awards for Excellence shortlist studied at News Associates
News Associates graduates make up more an a quarter of the entire NCTJ Awards for Excellence 2023 shortlist.
Thirteen News Associates graduates feature in the shortlist across 11 categories – with two appearing twice!
Max Kendix (The Times) is nominated for student news journalism and student data journalism, while Jack Fifield (The Oldham Times) is up for trainee data journalism and the community news project award.
There was a record 699 entries across 17 categories for the annual awards, which highlight the achievements of individuals with promising journalism careers ahead of them and those doing outstanding work in the media and training sector.
News Associates graduates are nominated across news journalism, sports journalism, top scoop, features, podcast, data journalism, student project of the year and the community news project category.
Part-time graduate Max said: “I am delighted to be shortlisted for these awards. A big thank you to my editors for supporting me, and to News Associates for the invaluable training over the last year.”
Fast-track graduate Jack said: “I’m super happy to have been shortlisted in the data and community news categories at the NCTJ Awards for Excellence.
“I’d like to thank my parents for helping me to attend News Associates in Manchester, which kick-started my career!”
Sports journalism graduate Elise Hamersley (Sportsbeat) is representing in the student sports journalism category, while fellow sports journalism grad Alec McQuarrie (freelance sports journalist) and School of Journalism graduate Ben Parsons (bunkered) make up two thirds of the trainee sports journalism shortlist.
Um-E-Aymen Babar (Sky Sports News), who studied on our fast-track course in London as part of a scheme with the Black Collective of Media in Sport and the Chelsea FC Foundation, won student sports journalist of the year in 2022.
The prestigious accolade was also won by News Associates graduates Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero (The Athletic) on 2021 and Josh Graham (Rugby World) in 2020.
Alec said: “It’s an honour to be shortlisted alongside a raft of talented young journalists and it’s no surprise to me that so many passed through the doors of News Associates.
“The training I received there was first class and full credit goes to all the tutors who ensure you graduate with all the tools you need in this industry.”
Ben said: “I’m delighted to have been shortlisted in the sports journalism category in the NCTJ Awards for Excellence.
“It’s an honour to have had my work recognised by the NCTJ and I’m so grateful to everyone at News Associates and The School of Journalism – not only putting me on the right track with my degree, but also for giving such great support after my studies.”
Fellow School of Journalism graduate Oliver Murphy (freelance journalist) is nominated for student top scoop, after being shortlisted for podcast journalism in 2022.
Oliver said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be shortlisted in the student top scoop category. Uncovering injustice while championing the voices of communities is an essential part of our role as journalists, so to be nominated this early on in my career is incredibly validating.
“Having my work recognised by the NCTJ is a huge confidence boost and a testament to the wonderful team at News Associates and The School of Journalism, whose overwhelming guidance and support has opened the doors to so many exciting opportunities within a highly competitive industry.”
Meanwhile, we trained a whopping four of the six nominees for feature of the year 2023.
Constance Bowker (Daily Mirror) and Svitlana Morenets (The Spectator) are nominated in the student section and Charlotte Alt (The Times) and Bethan Finighan (Kennedy News and Media) make up two thirds of the trainee category.
Fast-track graduate Constance said: “I’m buzzing to have been shortlisted in the Features of the Year category at the NCTJ Awards of Excellence.
“It feels like a really exciting start to my career and I’m so grateful for the support I received from my peers and tutors at News Associates.”
Charlotte, who also studied on a fast-track course with us, said: “I’m delighted to have been shortlisted in the Features of the Year category alongside such brilliant young journalists.
“My submissions were the result of several months in Scotland and I would like to thank my editors at The Times Scotland for all their support.
“I’m also grateful to News Associates who helped me find my feet in the industry and it’s great to see so many fellow alumni on the shortlist.”
Part-time course graduate Bethan said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be shortlisted for this award. Seeing my work recognised by the NCTJ is incredibly rewarding and it’s a privilege to be shortlisted alongside so many other talented journalists.
“I’d like to extend a huge thank you to all the tutors and my peers at News Associates. They offered unwavering support and helped me exceed my own expectations throughout the course and into my first role in the industry.”
News Associates Manchester alumni Jack Walton (The Post) was crowned student feature writer of the year in 2022.
News Associates part-time graduate Carla Rosch (BBC) features in the trainee podcast of the year shortlist.
Carla said: “I am delighted to be nominated for the NCTJ Awards for Excellence 2023. It was a story close to my heart about nature’s benefits, and I was experimenting in a format I had never tried before (podcast).
“I am grateful to News Associates for helping me become a journalist and to the wonderful colleagues I collaborated with at the BBC.”
Elsewhere, part-time course graduates Eleanor Gunn (freelance journalist) and Max are up for student data journalism while Jack is representing in the trainee category.
Eleanor said: “Being shortlisted for the data journalism award would have been unimaginable before doing my NCTJ at News Associates, the tutors helped build my confidence and teach me the skills I needed to write the nominated story, and I’m very grateful for their support and encouragement.”
London part-time graduate Asher Gibson (freelance journalist) and Manchester fast-track graduate Jack are also up for specialist categories.
Asher is nominated for student project of the year while Jack is shortlisted for the community news project award.
Asher said: “I’m super pleased to have been recognised for an award, especially one for a larger-scale project that took so much time and effort (scraping out medications data from the NHSBSA database was a task).
Asher said: “It’s got me thinking about whether I want to specialise in this kind of data-led, digital journalistic work, so I’ve been looking at routes to upgrade those skills even further in the future – learning some programming, digital forensics etc.”
News Associates editorial development director Lucy Dyer said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to see so many of graduates shortlisted across such a wide breadth of categories in the NCTJ Awards for Excellence.
“It’s testament to their incredibly hard work while studying for the really tough NCTJ Diploma in Journalism and our amazing journalism training teams in London and Manchester for constantly updating and innovating our courses so our graduates are prepared for the ever-evolving multimedia journalism landscape.”
NCTJ chief executive Joanne Forbes said: “Once again our judges were impressed by the high standard of work submitted, which showcases the dedication and hard work of our students and alumni and the wide variety of quality journalism they have produced.
“We were also bowled over by the sheer number who put themselves and others forward to win an NCTJ award for their examples of outstanding journalism.”
Everyone on the shortlist will be invited to a ceremony in 2024, the details of which will be released in the new year.