Griffith College Journalism Graduate Wins 2024 Student Journalism Award

Griffith College Journalism Faculty Graduate Madeleine Masoudi won the Student Journalism Award at the 2024 Shine Mental Health Media Awards ceremony in the 5-star Conrad Hotel in Dublin on Wednesday, 4th December 2024.

Made originally as her MA dissertation, Madeleine’s winning entry was a video documentary that focused on the impact of multi-year waiting times on the mental health of asylum seekers housed in Direct Provision Centres across Ireland. The judges commended Madeleine’s work, saying that she had taken a difficult and complex topic and dealt with it sensitively, humanising and giving a voice to some of the most disadvantaged people in our society.

Madeline graduated this Autumn with her MA in Digital Communications: Podcasting and Video course. In her acceptance speech, she thanked her MA dissertation supervisor and everyone from the Faculty of Journalism & Media Communications for the support she received during her time. As part of the award, Madeleine will receive a reporting placement with award partner Journal Media and a bursary, providing her with valuable experience in the field.

Now in their fifth year, the Mental Health Media Awards, sponsored by Coimisiún na Meán, aim to “recognise excellence in media coverage of mental health issues” and to “reflect the challenges, lived experience and realities of people living with mental ill health”.

Other students whose work was shortlisted for this prestigious award hailed from Trinity College Dublin, the University of Galway, and Kerry College. Other winners on the day included professional journalists and programme makers from the Irish Times, the Irish Independent, RTÉ’s Prime Time, and the Dublin Inquirer. 

Madeleine’s documentary, ‘Chronic Waiting: Mental Health of Asylum Seekers in Ireland’ can be watched here.