JERAA has offered a teaching award to recognise outstanding work undertaken by journalism educators since 2019. The award is considered important in a discipline that encourages practical, outward facing, engaged, and authentic approaches to learning and teaching. It recognises journalism educators who are improving teaching and learning experiences for students in a fast-paced media society.

This recognition was extended in 2020 with an additional teaching award category focussed around innovation. In 2022, JERAA continued to offer this teaching award, with it transformed in recognition of a return to a more ‘normal’ teaching and learning environment. In 2026, this award continues as the JERAA Award for Best Lightning Presentation on Teaching Journalism.

More about the winning academics can be found below with information on how to apply for the awards.

Awards

JERAA Teaching Award for Outstanding Teaching in a Journalism Program ($2000 prize)

• Ongoing, fixed term, sessional and casual staff with at least three years’ experience teaching journalism who are members of JERAA may apply. You may join JERAA in order to apply. Previous winners of this award are excluded from entering for a period of three years.
• Prize will be judged by a panel including JERAA executive board members and journalism academics with national teaching citations.

JERAA Award for Best Lightning Presentation on Teaching Journalism ($1000)

• A prize that recognises excellent and/or innovative journalism teaching ideas as demonstrated in a ‘lightning presentation’ – $1000 prize
• Ongoing, fixed term, sessional and casual staff with at least one year’s experience teaching in a recognised journalism program. This may be confirmed by a letter of support from a HoS or equivalent confirming the applicant’s role.
• Previous winners of this award are excluded from entering for a period of two years.
• Finalists will give a 5-minute ‘lightning’ presentation with 20 slides in-person at a session during the annual JERAA Conference.
• Finalists may be shortlisted by the JERAA Teaching Award Judging Panel.
• Finalists must be members of JERAA (click here join JERAA) and register for the conference to present.
• Presentations will be judged by popular vote by attendees at the JERAA Conference.

Criteria

JERAA Teaching Award for Outstanding Teaching in a Journalism Program

Applications will be evaluated by a panel of leading journalism educators on the basis of:

• Innovation, authenticity, impact and engagement in teaching techniques and/or projects that motivate students
• Fostering a deeper understanding of journalism through education, and contributing to broader society
• Demonstrating transformational approaches to understanding journalism and its practice, and/or the application of theoretical elements through journalism education
• Commitment to the growth of journalism education.
• The applicant’s reputation and standing within journalism education

Evidence to support the criteria can include (but is not limited to):

• Grants and/or publications that enhance the scholarship of learning in journalism education
• Support from Deputy VC (Education), Faculty Dean or equivalent
• Recommendations on the innovation of the teaching techniques
• Peer and student feedback on the effectiveness of the learning activities

Note: Previous winners are excluded from entering for a period of three years.

JERAA Award for Best Lightning Presentation on Teaching Journalism

Applications may be shortlisted by a panel of leading journalism educators on the basis of:

• Innovation, authenticity, impact and engagement in teaching journalism and/or projects in that motivate journalism students
• Demonstrating transformational approaches to understanding journalism and its practice, and/or the application of theoretical elements through journalism education
• Adherence to the Ignite model of presentation (20 slides, auto-advancing every 15 seconds, and a 5-minute presentation).

Applications

JERAA Teaching Award for Outstanding Teaching in a Journalism Program

The application should include:

• An overview of two pages (maximum) of the teaching techniques and/or project in response to the criteria.
• A brief budget of what the award will be spent on (for example, research or teaching related activities; conference attendance).
• A teaching-focused CV which outlines your teaching roles and responsibilities, publications, grants, and education history. (You may include publications that are forthcoming only if they have been ‘Accepted’ for publication.)
• A high-quality headshot photograph of yourself for use in JERAA publications (jpg or png).

JERAA Award for Best Lightning Presentation on Teaching Journalism

Upload your 20 slides and answer include the following:

• Name, title and university
• Email
• Mobile
• Presentation Title
• Summarize your topic in 140 characters (a “Tweet”)
• Tell us how you think this will help other journalism educators improve their teaching (maximum 200 words).
• Attach a high-quality headshot photograph of yourself for use in JERAA publications (jpg or png)

 Submission details

2025 JERAA Teaching Award for Outstanding Teaching in a Journalism Program applications close on November 2, 2026.

2026 JERAA Award for Best Lightning Presentation on Teaching Journalism entries close on November 2, 2026.

All submissions should be emailed before closing dates to JERAA VP (Awards) Tai Neilson at tai.neilson@monash.edu.

Recent Winners

Martin Newman, University of Technology Sydney, has won the 2025 JERAA Outstanding Teaching Award in a Journalism Program for innovations in his role over the past five years as coordinator of UTS’ Journalism Lab Student Newsroom and as publisher of Central News.

Over this time, Martin has evolved the student newsroom into a dynamic, student-led learning environment that integrates authentic journalistic practice, reflective inquiry, and ethical awareness within a news writing environment that has seen GenAI tools begin to transform newsroom practices.

The 2025 JERAA teaching award was judged by Honorary Professor Trevor Cullen of Edith Cowan University, Professor Andrew Dodd of the University of Melbourne and Associate Professor Caroline Graham of Bond University.

The judges commended the strength of Martin’s application and its distinct innovations to the well-established model of WIL publication partnerships.

“We were impressed by the inclusion of a student AI Editor, the awarding of an annual prize to participants and the nature of experiential collaborations, which have resulted in a doubling of pieces published by students, who are often working in a voluntary capacity,” they wrote.

“This is a comprehensive, well-integrated program of work with a strong track record of student success, and which supports regional media.”

Martin described his approach “integrating practice, reflection, and social responsibility”.

 “By giving the students agency and fostering autonomy, ethical engagement, and professional readiness, the newsroom – both collaboratively and individually – empowers students to become confident, adaptive journalists equipped to shape the future of the media industry,” he said. “Its success ultimately is not measured in readership or awards but in its function as a frontline teaching resource.”

The judges also highly commended La Trobe University’s Brigid McCarthy submission: “A well-argued case for WIL and authentic publication-based scaffolded learning. Some aspects of the way it is taught are novel, such as the legacy letter concept, which underscores the student-centred approach that the La Trobe program brings to the teaching hospital model for journalism pedagogy. What is evident in this application is the passion for the subject and for knowledge transfer through engaged adult learning.”

Winner of the popular vote at the 2025 JERAA Award for Best Lightning Presentation on Teaching Journalism is Dr Alysson Watson of the University of Newcastle. This was her second success in this category.

Associate Professor Louisa Lim of the University of Melbourne and Dr Dylan Bird, a lecturer in journalism at RMIT University, won the 2024 JERAA Outstanding Teaching Award in a Journalism Program for their joint entry, ‘The Masterclass: Flipped-Classroom Learning Through Podcasting and Padlet Tasks’.

The judges said: “This entry represents clever integration of journalism practice and pedagogy, with sustained impact. Both educators are heavily involved in research that informs their teaching and thoroughly deserve to win the 2024 JERAA award for Outstanding Teaching.”

This was Louisa’s second win in this category: she also won in 2021.

University of Wollongong lecturer Dr Benjamin Ball was commended by the judges for the same award: “Benjamin’s innovative and holistic approach to immersive teaching and learning is evident in the use of the Integrated newsroom. His students have gained important skills and insights from this experiential learning model which is clearly reflected in student feedback, and his student-centred approach creates a safe and inspiring classroom culture for his students.”

Winner of the popular vote at the 2024 JERAA Award for Best Lightning Presentation on Teaching Journalism is Professor Andrew Dodd of the University of Melbourne for his 5-minute presentation, The Graveyard Shift.

Gordon Farrer, a lecturer in journalism at RMIT University, won the 2023 JERAA Outstanding Teaching Award in a Journalism Program for his excellent work in developing and delivering fact-checking and verification curriculum.

The judges wrote that: “The award recognises Gordon Farrer’s work in designing and teaching the subject Fact checking and Verification. The judging panel agreed the subject is an exemplar of innovation, as the first of its kind in Australia, and in the way it is taught. It was created in response to an observed gap in the journalism curriculum. Gordon lobbied for it, established it, delivered it, and developed it to become an essential part of the degree, as well as an elective for other courses.

Gordon said he firmly believes that fact-checking – debunking, verifying, and filtering good information from bad information – is “the most crucial function of journalism practice”.

RMIT University lecturer Janak Rogers is highly commended by the judges for the same award. Janak has initiated and co-produced a range of narrative news podcast and television projects for students to extend their skills in, including in 2023 The Voice live television broadcast on Channel 31 and online. These projects provide innovative curriculum modules that blend theory with practical application.

The judges wrote: “Janak brings considerable depth and breadth to the teaching of broadcast journalism and has developed innovative and creative ways to engage students in building their professional practice and presenting their work to audiences. Janak is passionate about teaching and a font of great ideas for engaging students in real world projects to make their learning more rewarding, while also being highly useful to the wider community.”

Christine Kearney, a lecturer in digital journalism at the University of Technology Sydney, won the 2022 JERAA Outstanding Teaching Award in a Journalism Program.

Christine’s entry focussed on a work integrated learning project she founded and facilitated between UTS and SBS News. UTS Students pitched, reported and produced a Summer Series of Multimedia Feature stories, using a Constructuve Journalism methodology. These were published in 2021-2022, and students were given the opportunity to experience integration into newsroom practices and were paid at standard journalist rates.

The project began in 2020 and was inspired by journalism academic discussions on the importance and growth of multimedia storytelling, as well as calls for more diversity inclusion in storytelling from the SBS charter, academic and not-for-profit media groups such as Media Diversity Australia, to better reflect the diverse landscape of communities and individuals in Australia.

The judges selected Christine’s entry for its “innovative and constructive, solutions-focussed storytelling that has real outcomes for real audiences”.

They noted that “the partnership with SBS offered students valuable links with industry, an authentic learning experience and a published outcome for their portfolio. The program was well managed, well supported, grounded in the curriculum and passionately championed. Most importantly, it inspired students to create industry-standard work.”

The judges also wish to acknowledge the submissions by Rosanna Natoli (University of the Sunshine Coast) and T.J. Thompson (Queensland University of Technology) as highly commended.

Additionally, congratulations to Alysson Watson of the University of Newcastle who has won the 2022 Best Lightning Award on Teaching Journalism for her presentation on the Newsroom Project: A constructive student collaboration on domestic violence that triumphs in the face of course ‘optimisation’ and academic disestablishment.

Louisa Lim of the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne won the 2021  JERAA Award for Outstanding Teaching in a Journalism Program.

The project, entitled Podcast as Method: Student-led Cohort-Building through Remote Podcast Production, saw Louisa create a student-led system of remote podcast production, allowing students to learn how to podcast through a truly immersive and experiential process.

Harnessing the help of experts in the University of Melbourne Museums and Collections Department, they decided to do a local version of Marc Fennell’s podcast Stuff the British Stole.

The result was the Uncurated podcast series, which last night received the group innovation award at the 2021 JERAA Ossie Awards.

The judges thought this was a really innovative project, which was delivered remotely, and demonstrates great buy-in and learning from students and an exciting publication outcome.

The 2021 JERAA Teaching Award for Innovation in Online Teaching ($1000) was won by Nadyat El Gawley and Asha Chand of Western Sydney University. Nadyat and Asha’s presentation focussed on applying a solutions learning and constructive news model to build hope in Western Sydney during the COVID pandemic.

Sonja Heydeman of RMIT University won the 2020 JERAA Award for Outstanding Teaching in a Journalism Program for The News Corp RMIT Data Journalism Interdisciplinary Project.

This project takes an innovative approach to develop data-journalism skills, pairing interdisciplinary student teams via internships with an industry partner, News Corp.

Sonja’s project was commended by the judges “as was a new and innovative WIL project that used an interdisciplinary pathway to foster job-ready data journalism skills”.

The judges noted that this “student-centred project had clearly defined objectives, and connected students with another discipline, to work collaboratively with industry to learn and acquire key data skills and experiences.

“The project provides an excellent case study and exemplar for other journalism educators, especially in terms of cooperative learning, inquiry-based learning and experiential learning. It also created an authentic experience to build job-ready skills.”

Sonja said she intends to use the $2000 prize money for travel, accommodation and expenses for students to stay in regional areas and develop stories based on their data exploration. She has offered to share information on the project with other journalism educators.

The inaugural 2020 JERAA Teaching Award for Innovation in Online Teaching ($1000) was won by Tito Ambyo and Janak Rogers of RMIT University. Tito and Janak’s presentation explored how two remotely-produced RMIT podcasts, Under Cover ​and ​The Kicker,​ ​demonstrated how innovation and adaptation with a range of digital tools used in collaborative spaces supported students to create high-value work in a fully remote environment.

In 2019, Phil Kafcaloudes has won the inaugural JERAA Teaching Award for his outstanding work in coordinating the coverage of “Election 2019”.

RMIT Industry Fellow Kafcaloudes was the executive producer for the 120-strong team for the three-hour program that was broadcast on Community Television and The Junction’s website. The show included students from more than 20 universities across Australia.

The judging panel was comprised of national teaching citation and award winners Professor Trevor Cullen (ECU), Teaching Fellow Caroline Graham (Bond), and Associate Professor Kristy Hess (Deakin).

Kafcaloudes wins a $2000 prize for his work on “Election 2019”.