CAMPAIGNING student journalist Lauren Wilks has come out on top in a national competition.
Lauren, 25, of Lower Hopton, Mirfield, beat from entrants from across the UK to become Amnesty International’s 2013 Student Human Rights Reporter of the Year.
Lauren, who is studying for a masters degree in sociology at the University of Edinburgh, picked up the award at a prestigious ceremony in London.
The competition, now in its third year, is run by the National Union of Students and Amnesty in conjunction with The Observer and was one of 12 categories at Amnesty International Media Awards.
The awards showcase the very best of human rights journalism from national newspapers to television documentaries and the ceremony draws together more than 450 people from the top echelons of British media.
Lauren wrote about the issue of forced marriages in Scotland for the Edinburgh University newspaper The Student.
After picking up her award she said: “I had a chance to look at some of the entries in my category beforehand and the standard was amazing.
“I truly didn’t expect to win.
“Then to have my name read out as the winner was phenomenal. Just to be in the same room as so many great journalists was great.
“My hope is that this prize will help make a difference to those that are forced into marriage. I have been working on the issue for almost a year.”
Lauren’s prize is a fellowship with the US-based Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting.
This includes a $2,000 travel grant to cover an under-reported topic of her choice.
Previous fellows have travelled to a wide variety of countries from Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates to Greece, South Africa and Argentina.
Lauren will also have two weeks’ work experience at the Observer.
Top journalists who have previously won awards from Amnesty include Marie Colvin, Victoria Derbyshire, Christine Toomey, Alan Johnston and Andrew Gilligan.
