A Quill Award for journalism student

Aliyah Stotyn has won the 2013 Student Journalist of the Year award in this year’s Melbourne Press Club Quill awards.

Ms Stotyn received the award for her story, Two years on, Facebook ‘stalking’ incident backfires on hoaxer, published by the Centre for Advancing Journalism’s publication, The Citizen.

The award recognised Ms Stotyn’s efforts to highlight the risks associated with the indiscreet use of social media – risks that can have lasting consequences, such as a court conviction, even jail time.

Another Master of Journalism student, Julie Milland, was also short-listed for the award. Ms Milland reported exclusively on a mysterious strain of a deadly virus from China and how Australian authorities were dealing with the threat in a story titled Health officials alerted as five struck down, paralysed by emerging strain of EV71 virus.

The Citizen is part of the Master of Journalism teaching program. Editor Simon Mann said the awards recognised the program’s aim to give students who are mentored by teachers and journalists an opportunity to publish their work. 

“These awards are a resounding vote of confidence in The Citizen as it brings together theory and practice by giving students real–world experience in working for publication and to deadline,” he says. 

Both stories were published in The Sunday Age, as part of the program’s commitment to help students looking for opportunities in mainstream media.

Ms Stotyn joined the Master of Journalism program after completing a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism) at Swinburne University of Technology. 

Her work has been published in The Age and the Melbourne Review, and she writes for PEARL Magazine, a local arts and events publication.

Ms Stotyn says she is honoured to receive the award.

“I was happy to be one of the four people shortlisted and because the other students also had great pieces, I wasn’t expecting to win,” she says. 

“Being part of The Citizen was an invaluable experience. I learnt many useful skills and techniques for both writing and pursuing a story and it’s a great reward to have your work published on the website.”