The Student Radio Awards
The Student Radio Awards are hosted annually by BBC and Global to recognise the hard work students put in to producing good content.
In my first year I was one of the presenters on an entry that won GOLD for Best Entertainment.
In my third year I entered The Specials (7 special, whole team shows from across the year – https://sarahbertram.co.uk/head-of-daytime-programming/) and received a nomination for Best Multiplatform use.
I also entered my own podcast; 12 Years to Save the Planet – https://sarahbertram.co.uk/12-years-to-save-the-planet-podcast/ and received some excellent feedback from the judges.
Here are some extracts from the feedback received from industry members about the entries that I put together to showcase our best work.
THE SPECIALS
Best Entertainment:
“Brilliant entry. You demonstrated your really strong interviewing skills and your great feature ideas”
“Great content. Loved the first link and opening content fitted perfectly for the audience. I have no idea what a moving in day is (wasn’t a student) but was compelled to listen. Very student focused, and Nottingham focused which is great! Very local but still sounding big! Lots of voices, sounds busy and exciting but not messy. Really good entry.”
Best Outside Broadcast:
“Great improvising with broadcasting while in lockdown”
“Student OBs usually consist of students broadcasting from somewhere on campus – I love that this entry is made up of people broadcasting from home. Radio shouldn’t just broadcast to its audience but reflect it – so it’s great the station found ways to carry on broadcasting despite the challenges that came with lockdown.”
“I have scored highly for the ‘challenges overcome’ section as it’s great to read that a lot of work went in to bringing it to air in the first place (such as the preparedness to create pre-recorded content)”
Best Multiplatform:
“Fantastic use of platforms to get stand out content to a wide variety of students. Especially impressed with the use of, and understanding of, Twitch, which was distinctive among all entries”
“After reading this entry the one thing that stood out the most is how you utilise multiple platforms, great work! You clearly understand what platforms are best for executing different content”
“Great way to utilise the poll tool (on Instagram)”
“Smart promotion”
“This entry showcases the fantastic ability to extend the life of these shows beyond the radio. You’ve clearly explored different ways to increase awareness of this series across campus and used a variety of platforms to appeal to as many students as you can. The use of Quizzes and questions on Instagram showed a desire to involve the audience in those spaces.”
12 YEARS TO SAVE THE PLANET
Best Journalistic:
“Strong topic, good show title and presentation”
“This is a really well-produced programme exploring in depth an issue which is at the forefront of everyone’s minds at the moment.”
“The use of beds, vox pops and sound effects made it a really engaging listen and we heard from a good variety of different voices. The Extinction Rebellion debate was well facilitated, with two passionate speakers exploring the issue.”
“I really liked that you got out of the studio to talk to those in Nottingham working on sustainability. Simply hearing background noise in the bus depot brought the programme to life a bit”
“An impressive programme which used a variety of treatments to explore climate change in a student focused way.”
“A really important and interesting entry. I was pleased to hear the differing opinions and debate section as it demonstrated the show gave a platform to more than one point of view. The approach to covering the coronavirus pandemic on the environment with your student special is a really creative approach. Well done.”
