UBC Journalism students have received seven nominations for the 2018 Canadian Online Publishing Awards. The awards, now in their 10th year, recognise excellence in online publishing in Canada.
The nominations are for student projects in a range of courses at the School, including Integrated Journalism, Reporting in Indigenous Communities, International Reporting and Decoding Social Media.
“The recognition at a national level shows the dedication of the students to journalism excellence,” said director and associate professor Alfred Hermida. “They are a source of inspiration to us all.”
Last year, UBC Journalism students were recognised with five Canadian Online Publishing Awards.
School alumni and faculty are also up for a number of awards.
Range of finalists
Six of the nominations are in the academic category which recognises student work. Two course projects are finalists for Best article or series. They are the International Reporting class of 2018 for its “Stuck” project on refugees in Turkey and the Reporting in Indigenous Communities class of 2018 for its “More Than Words” project on Indigenous languages.
Students are also finalists in the award for Best interactive story. One of the finalists is a story on sea sponges by Abi Hayward and Brenden Dixon and the other is a final research project by grad Joanne Pearce on groundwater contamination in the Lower Mainland.
A story on the response to the opioid overdoses in Vancouver by Annie Rueter and Jonathan Ventura is a finalist for Best video content.
The sixth nomination went to the Decoding Social Media class of 2018 for the Best photo journalism award. It is the only finalist in the award category for its Vancouver Social Instagram project which showcased people working in social media in Vancouver.
One more student project is a finalist but in the media category for news, current affairs, business, sports and entertainment. The nomination for Best use of social media is for the live coverage of the Storm the Wall event at UBC by students Said Abugattas Abusada, Ely Bahhadi, Sarah Reid and Alexandra Rodriguez.
Alumnni and faculty are finalists in a range of awards in the media category. The Narwhal, where alumni Jimmy Thomson is the deputy editor, is up for awards for Best publication, Best news website, Best investigative article, Best continuing coverage, Best video and Best photo journalism.
OpenCanada.org, founded by UBC Journalism professor Taylor Owen, is nominated for Best publication, Best investigative article or series, and Best interactive/infographic story.
The Conversation Canada, a media startup set up by UBC Journalism professors Mary Lynn Young and Alfred Hermida, is nominated in the Best blog column/video category.
The winners will be announced on November 14 at an awards ceremony in Toronto.
