2016 Winners

The Charles Parker Prize 2016 for the Best Student Radio Feature was announced at the annual Charles Parker Day held at The University of the West of England on 18 March 2016.  The winners featured in a special programme, presented by Sara Parker, on BBC Radio 4 Extra on Saturday 28 May at 12 noon.

Gold Award

In Memory of Ayrton Senna - Chris Delaney - Goldsmith’s College, University of London

This brilliant piece of intensely personal radio took the listener on a wry, ingenious journey of discovery and challenge. Acoustically dynamic and impeccably recorded and mixed, the programme did what only the very best features do which is to play with the listener, engaging her or him in a haunting switchback of story and emotion. An immensely mature, confident piece of professional work that challenges the standards of much regular broadcast output.

Silver Award

Behind the Door - Marianna Des Forges - Goldsmith’s College, University of London

Unputdownable listening is rare in our hyped, click-away world, but Behind the Door was both theatrically gripping in its use of sound and utterly rivetting in its narrative tug. A genuinely frightening story told in simple and graphic manner – a classic.

Bronze Award

Student Gamblers - Eve Conlon - University of Sunderland

This was a serious and important piece of journalism sourced from and brilliantly relevant to its susceptible young audience. It neatly used dramatic and documentary technique to make its point, and the power of the interviewees’ testimony was overwhelming. A significant piece of work on an under-discussed topic.