Meet the Junior Journalist of the Year and other category winners
After receiving 200 print and video submissions from cub reporters nationwide, it’s time to meet the winners of the 2023 Kids News Junior Journalist competition.
National
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A karate kid has struck a blow against bullying while showing the pen remains as mighty as the sensei.
Claiming the inaugural Kids News Junior Journalist of the Year title, year 7 student Madison Riquelme beat out 200 other cub reporters nationwide with her print news story about young people combating bullying with martial arts.
As the grand prize winner, Madison scores a guest presenter appearance on Studio 10, a $1000 gift card and a $100 book pack from HarperCollins.
The cub reporter said she “interviewed a lot of people” and “checked many different sources” researching bullying over several weeks.
“The statistics were staggering,” Madison said. “I didn’t think there were going to be that many people that got bullied.
“I haven’t experienced bullying myself, fortunately, but I’ve heard about it happening to others and I have witnessed it.
“I do karate and I think it’s a really good thing for everyone to learn, not just to be strong with your fists, but in your heart and mentally.”
Drawn to enter because she “really enjoys writing”, the Melbourne student, who attends St Monica’s College, even submitted an original news cartoon with her entry and said she was “really grateful” to have won.
“I can’t believe it,” she said. “This was pretty difficult to write but I definitely learnt along the way.”
The print and video competition, promoting media literacy development for primary and secondary school students, is run by Kids News, News Corp Australia’s free online news site for classrooms, in partnership with Studio 10.
Studio 10 executive producer and competition judge Raj Wakeling said Madison’s entry was “the standout … well researched, with good quotes from (primary source interviews)”.
“Importantly, it was a genuine news story (and) very relevant to readers,” he said. “The structure demonstrated a sound understanding of how to structure a print news story to ensure the reader absorbs key news information first, before reading on to learn more detail and context.”
News Corp Australia’s community ambassador Penny Fowler said Madison was a worthy winner who demonstrated she had what it takes to pursue a life in journalism.
“Well done to Madison, who shone a light on bullying, an issue of clear public interest,” Mrs Fowler said.
“We were also thrilled by the number of entrants and the love of learning and the written word they demonstrated – critical stepping stones to success in school and beyond, whatever they pursue in later life.
“Kids News is an important part of our News in the Community program and its focus on the importance of education and childhood learning.”
While Victoria and SA each produced other category winners, hungry young NSW newshounds claimed four of eight categories, covering everything from organ donation to the post-Covid revival of a suburban festival to an interview with Olympic javelin thrower Mackenzie Little.
Campbelltown student Victoria Shridhar’s secondary video news entry reported on the 2023 Celebration Sing Out! at Sydney Town Hall, an annual fundraiser for the music therapy unit at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.
“I wanted to raise awareness of (music therapy),” Victoria said. “I worked hard on the video and I’m just happy that I won, it’s really exciting.”
The year 8 St Patrick’s student said editing was “the most challenging” part of the process.
“I really enjoyed interviewing everyone and seeing what their perspectives were on everything, why they enjoyed it and what they got out of it,” she said.
Taking out the primary sports video category, SA’s Franklin Oliver, a year 5 student at Gilles Street Primary School, said he was “shocked” by his win.
The roving* reporter, 11, travelled to Queensland for the Speedcubing AusNats2023 and said he “knew it would be such a good topic” as soon as he heard about the Junior Journalist competition because “so many other news stations were talking about it.”
Franklin’s secret weapon was preparing in advance and equipping himself for the job.
“After I recorded, I stitched together all the clips and beforehand I had gotten a really good deal on a microphone,” he said. “It was really good, it basically blocks out all other noise except for the voices that are actually speaking.
“I edited it over a couple of days of work. I’ve edited a lot of things for school projects and generally videos.”
Franklin’s biggest challenge was one every reporter knows well: “Making the effort to actually go out there and do it and find people to interview that were willing,” he said.
In Queensland, a year 6 group entry from Port Douglas State School was Commended in the tight-run primary news video category for their coverage of this year’s Carnivale parade.
“We feel honoured to be commended and are very proud of our efforts,” said students Nina Edmonds and Emily Murphy, who covered the event with classmates Gemma Cocks and Piper Saxon.
“We loved being part of the Junior Journo Competition and getting to work together to create something amazing that represents our beautiful town of Port Douglas.
“We are definitely inspired to enter the competition again and improve on our reporting skills. Thank you Kids News for the incredible opportunity.”
The overall range and quality of entries from around the country was “outstanding”, said Kids News editor and competition judge Diana Jenkins.
“Quality reporting demands fundamental journalistic practices,” she said. “Assessing newsworthiness is a skill, as is researching, interviewing, fact-checking, writing, structuring, editing, proofing and presenting.
“Collectively our young category winners cover a broad range of news, as you’d hope, but each one honours these same, timeless tenets of the trade with distinction.”
Winning entries and the full list of commendations can be found at kidsnews.com.au
Originally published as Meet the Junior Journalist of the Year and other category winners
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