Celebrations for top videojournalism student

A former NCTJ student from Glasgow Caledonian University is celebrating today after winning the award for top-performing videojournalism student sponsored by Archant.

Kenny Crawford who graduated from the MA Multimedia Journalism course last summer, was presented with his award by Archant London group editor Malcolm Starbrook at the NCTJ Student Council at MSN in London on 8 February.

He won the award thanks to his performance in the NCTJ videojournalism for online exam and coursework. His footage was praised as “well structured, clear and communicative” as well as being “highly accomplished” and “editorially strong”.

Kenny is now working for BBC Scotland as a freelance sports reporter after he completed the BBC Kick-off Trainee Sports Reporter scheme and spent time with BBC Radio Cumbria. He writes feature pieces, sports news and match coverage for the BBC sport website.

He said: “I enjoyed putting together these video packages while at GCU and always tried to make the end-product as high a standard as I could. Hopefully it’s a side of journalism I can remain involved in as the years go by, as I don’t want to let the skills I’ve acquired in that area go rusty.”

Archant chief executive, Adrian Jeakings, said: “We are delighted to be able to sponsor this award as it highlights an important element of what we can offer readers of our news websites.  Our launch of Mustard TV online in Norwich is a great example. Good video enriches our online audience’s experience and makes our content more engaging.”

Kenny’s videojournalism tutor at Glasgow Caledonian University, Claire Dean, added: “This is a well-deserved award for Kenny, who worked extremely hard throughout his year on the MA Multimedia Journalism course at GCU, embracing every challenge and opportunity with great enthusiasm. He was very quick to pick up the concept of creating a strong visual narrative to engage viewers with the story, and crucially spent time using the facilities here to develop his filming and editing skills. He has a very bright career ahead of him and this award proves he has the full set of multimedia skills journalists need nowadays to thrive in the fast changing industry.”

Photograph: L-R Kim Fletcher, NCTJ chairman; Kenny Crawford; Malcolm Starbrook, Archant group editor
Photographer: Adam Partoon, The Sheffield College