An award from the US-based Society of Professional Journalists has placed The University Times Magazine in the top 12 student magazines worldwide.
The paper’s magazine won its region – one of 12 – and is now a finalist for the overall award, the winner of which will be announced in late spring.
The magazine won for an issue from November 2019, which explored issues such as LGBTQ+ social spaces and the rise of the gig economy.
It won in a region that saw Virginia Commonwealth University’s Ink Magazine named as a finalist.
Regional winners would normally be announced at conferences, but these have been cancelled as a result of the coronavirus. Winners were notified of their success by email.
The Society of Professional Journalists is one of the oldest organisations representing journalists in the world. In the US, it has almost 300 chapters and more than 9,000 members of the media.
The awards are judged and chosen by professionals with at least three years of journalistic experience. Judges, the announcement says, “were directed to choose entries they felt were among the best in student journalism”.
Donal MacNamee, editor of The University Times, said: “I’m beyond delighted to have won our region in an international award. It’s a testament to the unbelievable hard work and talent of all the people – writers, illustrators and editors – who helped put it all together.”
MacNamee paid tribute to Patrick O’Donoghue and Eliana Jordan, the magazine’s editor and deputy editor respectively, for their “incredible” work on the magazine.
“We always push to produce student journalism of the highest calibre”, he said, “and it’s great to see that recognised from a body as prestigious as the Society of Professional Journalists”.
In 2017, The University Times won best all-round non-daily student newspaper in the world – an award also conferred by the Society of Professional Journalists.
The paper’s Editorial Board – consisting of six senior journalists in the paper – was shortlisted as one of the top 12 student newspaper editorial boards in the world in 2016.
The University Times has also been named Ireland’s best student newspaper for five of the last six years by the Union of Students in Ireland.
