Former Spirit Features Editor runner-up for NUS Journalism Award

Shreya Ramachandran, BA South Asian Studies

Former SOAS Spirit Features Editor, Cristiana Moisescu, was a runner-up in the Student Journalist of the Year category at the NUS Journalism Awards, 2014.

The awards recognise and celebrate achievements in the field of student journalism from across the country. Nominations from 600 student unions from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were submitted, of which over 64 student unions were selected for the final stage, and 14 student unions’ won at the award ceremony held in Bolton on 3rd July.
Moisescu was nominated by Leah Edwards, then Co-President Welfare and Campaigns at the SOAS Student Union. Moisescu only became aware when she was shortlisted for the prize. She was declared runner-up on her graduation day, which made her “doubly happy”, she said. “I feel the prize also emphasises the fact that you cannot do this kind of work without a good team behind you – and I had that at the Spirit.”
Edwards said, “Cris has given hours upon hours of her time editing content, building a team of contributors, holding and attending meetings up to three times a week. She has been the Features Editor at The SOAS Spirit since its relaunch two years ago and has been an absolutely vital part of a small but strong team who have taken the paper from a flagging, brief, rarely published paper to a strong paper published six to eight times a year, with a wide variety of relevant and interesting articles.”
The panel of judges represented various fields, including education and journalism. Assistant Editor of Attitude, Christian Guiltenane, one of the judges, said Moisescu was a well-rounded candidate and praised her “ability to tackle tough stories and tell them in a sensitive, informative way.”
Moiesescu is now working for The New Internationalist as an editorial intern.