A “groundbreaking” project helping to train journalism students at the University of Sheffield has been recognised in a prestigious industry awards ceremony.
The National Council of Training for Journalists (NCTJ) named a virtual reality newsgathering workshop, designed by University journalism teacher Lindsay Pantry, as the winner of the innovation of the year category in this year's Awards for Excellence, held earlier this month.
Judges described the simulation - which saw students transported to the scene of a major breaking news event and practise their crime reporting skills without leaving the safety of the newsroom - as “innovative and groundbreaking,” while highlighted its impact on first-year journalism students learning to report safely in high-pressure environments.
The University also received the equality, diversity and inclusion award for its Inclusive Voices work. Led by Professor Lisa Bradley, the project recruited a team of students from diverse backgrounds to analyse the teaching materials across all courses to ensure they represented all voices. New module development procedures were put in place to ensure new teaching materials will always have inclusivity at the core.
In addition, there were awards for students Ruby Watson in the News Journalism category and Na Ao in Video Journalism, while former student Yzabelle Bostyn received the Trainee news award and Joe Gilbert was highly commended in the Student of the year category.