Students reap the rewards of media partnership

Three Glasgow Clyde College students received awards for excellence in journalism and media at a prestigious event hosted recently by leading publishers Media Scotland.

Second year HND Practical Journalism student, Lauren Mair, was named 2016 Student Journalist of the Year while HND Media and Communication students Chloe Beagan and Sean Christie won the award for Best Media Students of the Year at the bash at Daily Record HQ in Glasgow city centre.

The competition was launched earlier this year when the College formed a partnership with Media Scotland’s Paisley Daily Express and sponsor QTS, a leading railway contractor, to publish 12,500 editions of HND Journalism students’ graded unit magazine, ‘Clyde Outside’.

With the backing of sponsors QTS, the students were able to distribute copies of the magazine, which was commended at the Scottish Student Journalism Awards as Best Student Publication, within every copy of the Paisley Daily Express on June 9th.

The students each wrote a story about the work QTS do to support the Scottish sports industry, and the stories were posted online, on the Paisley Daily Express website, to allow readers to vote for their favourite story.

The public were invited to vote for their favourite article and the winners were picked by a judging panel from the top five stories.

The winning students were presented with trophies, prize money and work experience opportunities at the prize-giving ceremony.

Journalism lecturer Karen Bale said: “We are so proud of what the students have achieved. The magazine they produced is professional, stylish and perfectly tailored for their audience.

“We are so lucky to have had this opportunity to work with Media Scotland and QTS, and for the students to have been given this platform for their work.

“The winners, Lauren, Chloe and Sean, all deserved their awards and we hope will go on to have long, successful careers in the industry.

“Well done to them all.”

Image shows Lauren Mair, Karen Bale, Gregg McEwan (Marketing Manger QTS), Chloe Beagan, Cheryl McEvoy (editor Paisley Daily Express), Sean Christie, Helena Morrow (Media Scotland sales director), Phyllis McLeish (Commercial Director), Councillor Mark Macmillan (Leader of Renfrewshire Council).