Eva Wasney
For the second year in a row, a Red River College Creative Communications student has won an award for their work published on Community News Commons.
Eva Wasney, a second year student, was honoured with The Eric & Jack Wells Excellence in Journalism award, given to two first and two second year CreComm students for high quality journalism, which can be print or multimedia work.
Wasney’s winning article, Sowing the seeds of a new farm frontier, examined the stories of young urban couples moving to rural Manitoba to become first-generation farmers.
The work was submitted anonymously and the submissions were judged by a panel of industry professionals.
The winners were recognized at an award ceremony and were given a cash prize – $500 for each second year student and $250 for each first year.
Katie and Colin McInnes were one of the couples featured in Wasney’s article. PHOTO: Eva Wasney
“I was surprised and honoured to win because this is the first time I’ve been recognized for my work,” Wasney said. “I’m proud of the piece I submitted and to have it acknowledged by a group of respected journalists feels really great. Also, it’s something I’m proud to add to my resume because the award is so well-known in the local media community.”
Wasney also had some complimentary words for CNC as a citizen journalism project.
“CNC is a great opportunity for young journalists, like myself, to get their work out there and get valuable feedback at the same time,” she said.
“The platform allows for creative storytelling that is a nice change of pace from the hard news offered by the mainstream media. It’s fun to write about things that interest you and CNC gives you the ability to connect with a like-minded audience, I think there’s a lot of value in that.”
Red River College is one of three primary partners of CNC, a citizen journalism initiative sponsored by The Winnipeg Foundation.
Last year, Erika Miller won the same award for her four-part series on restorative justice published on CNC.
Congratulations Eva.