Winners of the Mindframe for Journalism Education 2022 Ossie Awards announced
Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Mindframe for Journalism Education Ossie Awards, Lucy Waldron and Brooke Young, presented at the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA) Conference.
The awards program recognises the best work of student journalists in Australia. Each year, two prizes are presented under Mindframe sponsored categories for safe and responsible mental health and suicide prevention reporting to an undergraduate and postgraduate recipient.
Lucy Waldron (Griffith University) and Brooke Young (UTS) are the winners of the 2022 Mindframe undergraduate and postgraduate student prizes respectively for their safe and prevention-focused stories on mental ill-health and suicide.
Lucy Waldron’s How Communication Holds a lot of Power Towards Our Bodies is an informative and empowering piece. Lucy sensitively portrays a topic that is often stigmatised in a way that is engaging to the reader whilst still providing accurate and balanced information. An extremely relatable read, this piece is an important reminder for parents of our future generations to remain mindful of how our words and actions are perceived by our children. A difficult task executed well.
Brooke Young’s You bet your life: surviving gambling addiction is an engaging piece of work with a powerful message about prevention. This beautifully constructed audio-story shines a light on an important and often overlooked risk factor associated with suicide. Brooke’s style feels deeply personal, displaying excellent interviewing skills that allow her subjects Paul, Anna and John to openly discuss their experiences of mental ill-health and suicidal ideation. The inclusion of help-seeking details will allow those who listen to be able to reach out if they find themselves in a similar situation.
Ann Ho of Swinburne University of Technology was also highly commended for her work: Doomscrolling: a journey through a global pandemic which brings a unique view to an important contemporary issue while offering positivity and constructive advice.
Everymind Project Lead, Dr Elizabeth Paton praised all three works for demonstrating the power of safe and sensitive stories that show people can get through a difficult time or access support when they need it.
“We know that media can contribute to reducing mental ill-health and suicide rates in Australia when these issues are reported on safely,” Dr Paton said.
“It was great to see so many entries from journalism students who have made mental health and suicide prevention a focus for their work. On behalf of Everymind, I congratulate Lucy, Brooke and Ann for their brilliant work and wish them all the best in their future careers.”
To learn more information about the Ossie Awards and for the full details of the 2022 entries, visit the JERAA website.