How EM ended up at an awards festival thanks to talent and teamwork

Anyone who has ever won something knows that winning feels just that bit better than simply taking part. Erasmus Magazine finished this year on an award-winning note and, according to editor-in-chief Wieneke Gunneweg, that symbolises how EM works.

We are proud as peacocks of our two first prizes for best student column and best background story. The fact that the recognition came from renowned colleagues in the field gives that extra bit of acknowledgement.

Gold dust

Now that the gold dust has settled a little and the trophies are proudly shining, I can see that the prizes are more than a lucky shot or a snapshot in time. I think the two awards symbolise how EM works and what EM aims to be.

The winning column by Giselle Maria Timmers represents our work with students (I once somewhat irreverently called them the salt on our egg). For the editorial team, the prize is also a reward for all the time, energy and professional love we invest in selecting, training and guiding students.

Talent

Let me begin by saying that Giselle has a talent for observing, crafting, and writing. What is not there to begin with, we obviously cannot draw out. But it is also the commitment over the years to nurture that talent, and the care taken by the editor to refine it, that makes it possible for someone to win a prize. The same applies to the award-winning investigative story by Tessa Hofland. Again, there is, of course, first and foremost the talent, tenacity, and stamina of the journalist herself.

Teamwork

But the article Why it is so difficult to expel unsuitable medical students is, in addition, a Gesamtkunstwerk. Jointly formulating a hypothesis, providing input and background information from everyone’s networks, offering encouragement after setbacks, taking over ongoing work and going through the text line by line turned it into ‘a fine piece of investigative journalism’ as the jury called it. Teamwork and making each other better in our work as journalists in order to serve the university community is what gets us out of bed in the morning.

Awards festival

And when I realise that these two prizes were for pieces published last (academic) year, I am tempted to hazard a winning forecast for next year’s awards festival. Because I am also proud of the stories we published this year, and they perfectly show what EM stands for: a critical eye on university policy such as here and here, attention to remarkable stories such as this and this, and always a finger on the pulse when it comes to major and minor misfortunes or other events on and around campus. Or simply an article about something you have been wondering about for years.

In this winning mood, we close the year. We are going to take a break, but always with one eye open for important stories. We will be back in mid-August, or earlier if needed.