The winning group, left to right: Muna Fadhil, Olivia Blair, Joel Watson and Jacqueline Agate
A group of five MA students from Goldsmiths have won the BBC Best Student Magazine award at the Magazine Academy Awards, winning a total of £1000.
Editor Hannah Boland and Jacqueline Agate, Muna Fadhil, Joel Watson and Olivia Blair accepted the award last night for Scene, a magazine all about the world of independent cinema.
The awards are organised by Yvonne Illsley, the course leader for magazine journalism at Sheffield university. They focus on celebrating the talent and innovation of students in the UK.
The publication, Scene, concentrated on local cinema, global features and interviews with upcoming actors.
Hannah Boland, who came up with the idea, was inspired by her cinema-going experiences in Peckham where she lived for a year – the area boats the Peckhamplex, cinema which regularly features local movies and a rooftop cinema on the Bussey Building.
Goldsmiths is also situated close by the last sex cinema in London in New Cross. One of the magazine articles focused on the life of pornstars and the future of sex actors.
Judges at the Magazine Academy Awards said that Scene is a “A very slick magazine that understands its audience.”
“The cover lines and headlines draw you in and there is an interesting use of images and graphics. The design is simple, but strong. A very professional product. An impressively-produced magazine, professionally and beautifully executed.”, they added.
Boland said of the win: “At the end of the day we all supported each other and everybody in the group really deserved it. It was such a group effort. Everybody, even in the classroom was supporting.”
“I’m so happy for the team. All those late nights and all the times they may have hated me for shouting at them!”
Winning the award also heightens the creative prospects for the university as well as individuals. “It feels more like a win for Goldsmiths,” she said.
A second MA Goldsmiths magazine, named Shaken, was also up for nomination and was highly commended. Aimed at 20-somethings seeking ideas for a good night out, it was edited by Jazmin Kopotsha with her team James Benge, Alexandra Sims, Harriet Mallinson and Alice Harrold.
The judges commented on the second publication saying it was “A fun and immediately engaging magazine, with lots of editorial and commercial potential. Could easily become a genuinely useful tool for 20-somethings on the hunt for a better quality of nightlife.”
Becky Gardiner, a lecturer in journalism who runs the magazine section of the MA Journalism programme, said she was proud of her students. “These wins were well-deserved; they are two great magazines,” she said.
