On September 30th, the FHWien of the WKW hosted the sixth award ceremony of the renowned Journalism Young Talent Award. Among the numerous submissions, works on current social issues such as soil consumption and work-life balance were particularly convincing. A total of ten young talents from the fields of radio & audio, TV & video, text and multimedia were honored. A special prize was also awarded for the best thesis.
The Journalism Young Talent Award is endowed with 500 euros per category and was awarded for the first time this year with the kind support of “Der Standard” and “Kurier”. The prize in the text category was sponsored by “Der Standard” and presented by its marketing manager Judith Zingerle. The prize in the multimedia category was sponsored by “Kurier” and presented by Marlene Auer, editor-in-chief of “Kurier-freizeit”. The prizes in the categories sponsored by FHWien der WKW were presented by Managing Director Michael Heritsch.
Young journalists at the start of their careers
With this award, FHWien der WKW is specifically committed to promoting young journalists. The award gives young talents the opportunity to present their work to a wider audience and make important contacts in the media industry. Actor Patrick Sieber, himself a journalism student at FHWien der WKW, moderated the event.
Jury of experienced journalists and experts
A top-class jury judged the submitted entries. Among the representatives of FHWien der WKW were Daniela Süssenbacher, Head of study programs, Regula Blocher, Carola Leitner, Martin Reichenauer and Karina Schwann. Eight independent journalists joined the jury. These included Bea Sommersguter and Matthias Däuble (both Ö1) for the Radio & Audio category and Christine Grabner (freelance TV designer) and Eduard Moschitz (ORF) for the TV & Video category. Other jury members were Regina Pöll (ORF) and Wolfgang Sablatnig (Tiroler Tageszeitung) for the Text category and Yvonne Widler (Kurier) and Robert Varga (APA) for the Multimedia category.
The winners of the Journalism Young Talent Award 2024
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Category Radio & Audio:
Benedikt Quinz convinced the jury with his radio report “Built-up soil, built-up future?”, in which he addresses the far-reaching effects of soil consumption in Austria. As the European leader in soil sealing, the country is facing major challenges, especially in times of climate change. In his work, Quinz outlines possible solutions.
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Category TV & Video:
Victoria Hehle won with her contribution “How is news actually made?”. In her video, she explains the creation process of news based on well-known knowledge programs for children and sheds light on the working methods of journalists in radio, TV and print editorial offices. She also addresses the topic of fake news and explains how to recognize fake news.
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Category Text:
The article “Quiet quitting – resistance or zeitgeist?” by Anke Mandl, Lisa Marie Wögerbauer and Katharina Darya Ressl won in the text category. The article analyzes the phenomenon of “quiet quitting”, in which young employees increasingly pay attention to a strict work-life balance, and shows the different perspectives of Generation Z and experts.
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Category Multimedia:
In the multimedia category, the group project “Uprooted: The last summer in the field?” by Afifa Akhtar, Amira Ali, Sebastian Deiber and Katharina Fallmann. The story follows an organic farmer whose livelihood is threatened by the construction of a bypass road and highlights the resistance against soil sealing in a climate camp.
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Best Thesis:
This year’s Best Thesis Award went to Hannah Purner for her print dossier “Krawall”. Written as part of her master’s thesis on “Cancel Culture,” it examines the power of language in democratic debates and how that power is distributed. She shows that it is as much about the limits of what can be said as it is about who is heard. Democratic debates thrives on contradiction, but in times of cancel culture, this is often only tolerated from certain circles.
Focus on promoting young talents
FHWien der WKW plans to continue the Journalism Young Talent Award in the future in order to support journalism education in Austria and the career entry of young journalists. With socially relevant topics such as soil consumption or work-life balance, this year’s winners proved that they have their finger on the pulse and can set important impulses in the industry. Congratulations to all the winners!