Combining his passion for rugby league with a knack for good story telling has resulted in University of Notre Dame Australia journalism student Tyson Jackson being named Student Journalist of the Year at the prestigious 2023 Kennedy Awards.
The Kennedy Awards are national awards that recognise excellence in the Australian news media industry.
Tyson – a second-year Bachelor of Communications and Media student in Sydney– was crowned the top student at a gala dinner at Royal Randwick Racecourse last Friday.
He submitted a portfolio of NRL stories that featured in the Daily Telegraph, including a back-page lead story on St George Illawarra’s hopes of getting back into finals contention.
Tyson was one week into his degree when he was hired as an editorial assistant at the Daily Telegraph.
He soon proved himself as a reporter, and now juggles work at the newspaper with full-time study at Notre Dame and playing in Sydney’s premier club rugby competition.
“If you get an opportunity I think you’ve just got to run with it,” Tyson said. “I’ve been putting my hand up for everything because I want to be around every bit of journalism that I can.
“You learn a lot on the field as a journalist but I’m also learning different things from university and I’m getting good life lessons.
“I’ve had the chance to do a whole lot of film classes and to learn to use a camera and I even did a counselling course last year as an elective.”
Associate Professor in Media and Journalism, Camilla Nelson, said the University was delighted Tyson’s outstanding work had been recognised with a prestigious national award.
“Tyson was in competition with students from universities around the country and his journalism lecturers and tutors at Notre Dame could not be more proud of his achievements,” she said.
Media Contact: media@nd.edu.au