The Boar wins four awards at SPA National Conference

The Boar and members of its team have been recognised by the Student Publication Association (SPA) at their annual National Conference.

Held on the 27 and 28 March in association with Concrete, the University of East Anglia’s student newspaper, SPANC 26 was filled with networking events and workshops tailored to the journalism industry. Keynote speakers included Maryam Moshiri, presenter of The World Today at the BBC and James Coomarasamy, presenter of Newshour on the BBC World Service and Radio 4’s The World Tonight.

The two-day conference also included numerous bookable workshops aimed at supporting student journalists to better their careers, providing one-on-one support and networking opportunities.

The award ceremony, which took place on the Saturday night in the UEA Students’ Union building, was attended by 250 student journalists. Over the course of five hours, 15 individual and 11 publication awards were presented to various winners and runners-up from across the country.

The Boar‘s Science and Technology section, headed by Georgia Carwardine, was awarded the Best Science Publication or Section. The SPA’s Board Secretary, Deborah Cohen, said that the section had “interesting well-written articles, with some connection with the university, others on issues of interest to students.”

Former Editor-in-Chief Sanjana Iyer collected the award on Carwardine’s behalf, praising her for “turning the section around”: “She rose it like a phoenix from the ashes, it was nothing before she came to The Boar.”

Iyer thanked The Boar‘s Sci-Tech writers, deputy editors, and the entire team for their hard work and dedication. She concluded: “We are so proud of you, thank you so much.”

Nikolai Morton and Tom Ryan were also highly commended for the Best News Story award. Their coverage of the Arthur Vick accommodation fire was praised by George Parker, Political Editor at The Financial Times

Rachel Gore, one of The Boar’s Editors-in-Chief, was recognised twice at the awards. Her article about student awareness surrounding meningitis was highly commended for the Best Feature award, and was described by The New Stateman‘s Anoosh Chakelian as “prescient, thorough reporting through human stories, exclusive polling and research”.

The Boar’s other former Editor-in-Chief, Martin Day, was also on hand to collect the commendation on Gore’s behalf. Day said: “She’ll be very pleased to receive this. Her article [is] very topical right now … She would want to thank all the people she spoke to.”

Gore was also highly commended for the Best Sports Reporter award. Joe Harston, Sports Journalist at The Times, applauded her skills: “She did not shy away from writing original investigations on matters that evidently affect students’ enjoyment and participation in sport, and has written them in an clear and enjoyable way for a reader outside of that sphere.”

Megan Green was there to accept on Gore’s behalf, having formerly taken over from her as Sport Editor last year. She said: “She was such an amazing mentor for me as previous Sport Editor. She’s totally deserving of this award.”

Former News Editors, Nikolai Morton and Tom Ryan, were also highly commended for the Best News Story award. Their coverage of the Arthur Vick accommodation fire was praised by George Parker, Political Editor at The Financial Times, who commended the pair for their “responsible and excellent journalism” throughout the event.

Morton was there to collect the award in person and praised his fellow former-editor Ryan for being “the best journalist and best friend also”. He told the audience: “This story was never really something we imagined having to report … When stories like that come along, it’s a huge responsibility, but also a huge privilege.”

Morton made sure to thank his fellow Boar attendees as well as “the SPA for an amazing conference”, before shouting out News writer Veera for her part in breaking the story to the Boar team. Morton concluded: “Thank you to the West Midlands Fire Department for your rapid response – we would’ve been there a lot longer otherwise.”

Over 1,400 entries were submitted in total this year… Judges praised the “exceptional quality” of the submissions

Warwick’s Planorama was also highly commended at the awards, in the Best Design (Magazine) category, for their ‘Queer Culture’ and ‘Freshers’ issues. Erica Weathers, Head of Design at The New Statesman, described the magazine as a “bold and expressive publication… The visual identity feels dynamic and thoughtfully curated”. Planorama was also nominated for Best Culture Publication and Best Specialist Publication.

Rewind, Warwick’s history magazine, also took home a Highly Commended award – for Best Project or Initiative – for their ‘Pathways to the Past’ project. Rob Milne, Associate Director of PLMR Midlands said: “By combining print, documentary filmmaking, and short-form video, it brings together academic research and storytelling to bring local history to new audiences.” Rewind was also nominated for Best Website, Best Overall Digital Media, and Best Specialist Publication.

The Boar was nominated for 10 categories in total: Best Publication, Best Science Publication or Section, Best Sports Publication or Section, Best Reporter (Anna Bickerton), Best Sports Reporter (Rachel Gore), Best News Story (Nikolai Morton and Tom Ryan), Best Investigation (Anna Bickerton and Martin Day), Best Feature (Rachel Gore, Tom Ryan), Best Arts or Culture Piece (Bethany Sirianni), and Best Creative Piece (Will Moores).

Over 1,400 entries were submitted in total this year, with panelists from BBC News, The Times, The Guardian, The financial Times, Bloomberg, Sky News and Channel 4 News. Judges praised the “exceptional quality” of the submissions.

A complete list with all winners can be found here.