TSJ runner-up for Guardian award

_The Student Journals_ (_TSJ_), an online magazine created by Warwick University students, has been placed runner-up in the _Guardian_ Student Media Awards 2011.

Daniel Barrow, who completed his degree at Warwick last summer, was also awarded the position of runner-up in the Critic of the Year category.

_TSJ_ was established by Siraj Datoo, who studies French and International Studies at Warwick. It was nominated in the Website of the Year category alongside websites from the universities of Oxford, Southampton, Birmingham and Liverpool.

The eventual winner of the category was _Redbrick_, the student paper of the University of Birmingham.

Datoo was absolutely delighted to be recognised by the awards. He said being named runner-up “proved that the concept behind _TSJ_ – to give students a national platform – had real validity.” He was also proud that the website had been compared to the _Guardian’s_ ‘Comment is Free’ section.

Reflecting on ultimately losing out to Birmingham’s _Redbrick_, Datoo concluded that _Redbrick’s_ “phenomenal coverage of the riots” led to _TSJ_’s placing second.

Ali Gokal, a Law student at City University London and Deputy Editor for _TSJ_, added that “_Redbrick_ is a class act and worthy winner – there’s no shame coming runner-up to them.” He highlighted the discrepancy in age between the two, emphasising that _Redbrick_ had been running for 75 years, compared to _TSJ_, which has just celebrated its first birthday on October 27 this year. He said that the judges were impressed by _TSJ_’s “concept, the quality of the writing and the standard of editing.”

Datoo founded _TSJ_ because he felt that students “needed somewhere to express their opinions on a national scale.” Gokal was persuaded to join by “the genuine need for students to have a website which was free of political persuasions and free for all to write to.” Students are able to submit comment articles through the website, and _TSJ_ also provides more senior positions to those looking for a bigger commitment. At present, around five articles are uploaded per week.

When asked about plans for the future of the website, Gokal said that it is “onwards and upwards from here. There’s still a lot we can do from an editorial perspective; we want to get more students writing, reach every student hub and we must continue to innovate.”

He was confident that the website would continue to experience growth over the next year, adding that they “have a notable number of guest blogs, interviews and contributions from some very influential and in-the-know people. Our readers will see more of these in the next twelve months.”

The issue of marketing was also brought up; _TSJ_ was an official media partner of Warwick International Development Summit (WIDS) this year, and Gokal said to “expect to see us continue to cultivate synergies where we can.” Further cultivating their relationship with the website’s readership was also a priority: “We’ll keep utilising social networks as a primary means of accessing our reader base but, as with everything, we like to keep it innovative.”

Recent innovations have included the launch of the _TSJ_ Advisors Scheme, which involves editors from publications such as the _Guardian_ and the _Telegraph_ in editing students’ work, and coverage of student-led events such as WIDS. Additionally, two new section editors for Culture and Features have been put in place.

Concluding, Gokal said: “We’re not in this for awards or recognition. Siraj and I believed a year ago that there was a real need for a site that would bring students together. We still hold that belief. Regardless of any awards we win, we’ll keep on banging the drum for _TSJ_.”

Daniel Barrow was satisfied being runner-up in his category. He said the prize of work experience with the _Guardian_ was “more suited to me than blogging for the NME,” which was awarded to the winner. Barrow was the first Warwick student since Leo Robson in 2008 to be rewarded at the Guardian Student Media Awards.

He advised aspiring journalists that they “shouldn’t be afraid to be ambitious in their writing” and added that they should not be constrained by “the kind of narrow-minded, carping, airheaded stuff that passes for mainstream writing these days.”