Awards

Siemens Award for Student Journalism 2011

The Invisible Line broadcast on Newsline, Channel 31, focused on the social divide and inequity created by the arbitrary and invisible boundary that separates inner and outer regional students applying for the Independent Youth Allowance.

The judges, Genevieve Brammall, Brett McLeod and Rob Curtain, said of the report:

“The entrants, Jane and Harrison, have crafted a highly watchable story which maintains the viewer interest from beginning to end. They have used the TV medium to great effect, travelling to Eildon to capture the vision of the ‘invisible line’ that divides inner and outer students applying for the independent Youth Allowance. The piece is backed and informed by sound research. It is an interesting yarn on a solid issue which would not be out of place in an evening news bulletin. A worthy winner in a strong field.”

The Invisible Line:

Watch an interview with Harrison and me on the Melbourne Press Club award page.

Award for Excellence in Education Reporting 2011

Harrison Tippet and Jane Vashti Ryan won this award for their video story “The Invisible Line” broadcast on Channel 31, Newsline on 11 May 2011. The RMIT 3rd year journalism students produced an excellent story about the problems with the Independent Youth Allowance entitlements for inner and outer regional students. They conducted interviews with National Student Association representatives, NTEU officials, and a Nationals senator in Canberra, as well as residents of a small country town that straddled one these boundaries resulting in different levels of Youth Allowance entitlements depending on which side of the street they lived on.

The story was well researched and produced and addressed a significant policy problem that is having unintended consequences on young people from regional Australia seeking to access higher education.