UNIVERSITY of Newcastle students have received national recognition for shining a spotlight on domestic violence in the Hunter.
UON communication students Alexandra Rees, Piper Jackson, Callum Pull, Hayley Ratcliffe, Jordan Regnis and Giorgia Wilson were acknowledged at the recent Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia Awards.
They were highly commended in the best visual journalism by an undergraduate or postgraduate student (all media, individual or group) category for their multimedia story, It takes two to tango - but it will take all of society to end domestic violence.
Speaking on behalf of the team, Ms Rees said the students were "stoked".
"I was so proud... it's still unbelievable to think we have been recognised in that way."
Ms Rees said the team was moved by the deaths of Emerald Wardle and Mackenzie Anderson to focus on intimate partner violence for their work, which was part of the Creative Industries Professional Project course.
"[We wanted to] uncover facets that influence intimate partner violence, to answer questions like why does it happen, what are the symptoms, what is being done about it and more importantly what needs to be changed," she said.
"Being a constructive journalistic piece we wanted to provide components of the community speaking out, abuse beyond the physical, understanding perpetrator behaviour, strategies to change the narrative of violence and the national plan forward... we wanted to not provide an overwhelming look at the issue, but this is where we are and this is where we can go if we all work together."
UON student Sam Baker was highly commended for his multimedia story Dark Side of the Mountain in the best text-based story by an undergraduate student over 750 words category.
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