The investigative reporting by Erasmus Magazine on sexual harassment among students published last April won third prize in the investigative journalism category. The panel of judges consisting of science journalist Enith Vlooswijk, New Scientist editor-in-chief Jim Jansen and Lucien Baard, investigative journalist at Tubantia, praised the reporting for its ‘thorough approach’. The judges’ report said that ‘although the outcome is unsurprising’, EM’s reporting shows ‘that students are unsure to whom they should turn’ when they experience inappropriate sexual behaviour. According to the judges, EM’s publications ‘powerfully highlight the urgency of this issue’.
Read all about the investigative reporting on sexual harassment here:
Leiden University’s Mare took first prize for an article on ‘smart cameras’ installed at the entrances to university buildings and lecture rooms. The intended purpose of these cameras was to count people, but Mare discovered that they could be used for many other purposes and that the system was poorly secured. Second prize in this category went to the University of Amsterdam’s Folia magazine, which exposed how major tax consulting firms are influencing professors of tax law at the University of Amsterdam.
Sensitively described
Mare also landed the award for the best column of the past year for a piece by editor-in-chief Frank Provoost, in which he criticised Leiden University for covering up scientific fraud and for how it dealt with whistleblowers. Third prize went to the column ‘Ik ben blijkbaar heel beroemd’ (‘Apparently I’m very famous’) in HvanA, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences’ news magazine.
A column by Dino Gačević, who writes about his medical internships for Erasmus Magazine each month, came second. His column about a patient starting intensive chemotherapy is ‘a bit chafing but nuanced’, according to the panel of judges consisting of writer Peter Buwalda, Volkskrant and Opzij columnist Asha ten Broeke and Volkskrant journalist Toine Heijmans. “A really distressing situation is sensitively described with aptly chosen words.”
Read Dino’s column here:
Video and podcast
Hanzemag (Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen) won first prize in the video and podcast category with a documentary on the search of three international students for housing. SAM (HAN University of Applied Sciences) took second place for the podcast ‘Van Hier tot Gender’ (‘From Here to Gender’). And a podcast on conspiracy theories by SaxNow (Saxion University of Applied Sciences) came third.
The awards were presented at the annual meeting for independent media in higher education, which was held in Enschede. The three award winners each received 250 euros.