Sussex student’s magazine triumphs in national journalism competition
A Media Studies student from the University of Sussex is celebrating after winning an award in a national journalism competition, organised by the Guardian newspaper.
Corey Pellatt, who has just entered the final year of his degree, won Student Digital Journalist of the Year in the 2013 Guardian Student Media Awards.
The category recognises a student journalist “who is harnessing the power of digital media for a greater good and creating insightful, interesting and relevant content that reaches audiences in new and innovative ways”.
Corey and his friend Lewis Scrafton – now a finalist in Media Practice at Sussex - set up the print version of the quarterly SQ Magazine in late 2009 while they were studying for their A-Levels at Sussex Downs College in Eastbourne.
Corey recalls: “We wanted to enhance our chances of securing a place at a good university, develop some knowledge of the media industry and also give the people of Sussex a great product.
“The first few issues were really well received and we decided to take a gap year before starting university in order to develop the publication, which we felt had plenty of potential.”
The magazine – which the duo describe as “the UK's leading independent youth culture publication” – has just reached its tenth issue and is distributed freely to readers on the south coast.
It went online in early 2011 and the website attracts more than 50,000 unique visits every month.
Corey focuses on content and the news agenda, while Lewis takes on more of a creative role at SQ Magazine.
Corey says: “Winning Digital Journalist of the Year is a massive honour for me and feels like the end product for four years of relentless work.
“While we’ve always enjoyed great feedback from our readership, it’s incredible to be validated by industry professionals and receive recognition from the Guardian Student Media Awards.”
This year the judges for the Student Digital Journalist category were Ian Burrell, assistant editor and media editor at the Independent newspaper, and Laurence Durnan, editor for Political Scrapbook (“news and gossip from Britain’s leading left-wing blog”).
Corey, who was one of only five finalists shortlisted in the category, received his prize on Wednesday (27 November) at an awards ceremony at the Guardian offices in London, hosted by TV presenter Rick Edwards.
As a result of Corey’s win, he will get the chance to complete two weeks’ work experience at the Guardian.
His follows previous successes by Sussex student journalists, including Joe Lord-Jones who triumphed in the Student Broadcast Journalist category in 2012 with his film about Palestine's bid to join the United Nations as a full member state.