A fourth-year journalism student at Carleton University and former editor of Centretown News has been named the most outstanding student journalist in Ontario.
Kelly Patrick, 24, won the first Rob Austin Award in a competition sponsored by the Ontario Newspaper Awards for her work in the community newspaper published by the School of Journalism as part of its curriculum and her overall academic excellence. Patrick beat out nominees from 22 other undergraduate college and university journalism programs in Ontario. The award is named after a former city editor of the Hamilton Spectator.
Christopher Dornan, director of the School of Journalism at Carleton University, said he was “delighted” by the award.
“Kelly Patrick is a young journalist of tremendous talent promise. Conscientious, enterprising, enthusiastic and, above all, committed to her craft, she has a great future ahead of her as a reporter and interpreted of events.”
Patrick was nominated by Klaus Pohle, Centretown News publisher and journalism professor, for two magazine-length articles and one news story, published last fall.
“Patrick’s writing showed flair, sensitivity and maturity,” said Pohle. “Both as editor and writer she was as outstanding as any student I’ve encountered in 20 years of teaching.”
Her activities at Carleton included a three-month internship in the fall of 2003 at the Washington Centre for Politics in Journalism.
She has been a full-time reporter and editorial writer at The Windsor Star since February, while finishing her degree.
Patrick will be honoured on May 15 in Toronto at the annual awards ceremonies of the Ontario Newspaper Awards.