A crowd of people men and woman with one man in a yellow, red and red jacket at the forentfront. The words 'Escaping chaos' and Kenneth Sanchez are written over the top of the image.

Digital storytelling project shortlisted for two national awards

A final-year digital storytelling project by Kent Journalism BA student Kenneth Sanchez has been shortlisted for two prestigious national awards; an Amnesty Media Award and a Shorthand Award.

Kent Journalism BA student Kenneth Sanchez

Kenneth’s project, ‘Escaping the Chaos’ is one of only four shortlisted within Amnesty International UK’s ‘Student Journalist’ category and one of three shortlisted within the ‘Best education story’ category by Shorthand.

Kenneth is shortlisted alongside some of the biggest names in journalism in the Amnesty Media Awards. It’s a highly respected set of awards, now in its 28th year, with 11 award categories that celebrate excellence in human rights journalism from the past year. The awards also applaud the courage and determination of journalists and editors who sometimes put their lives on the line to report on vital human rights issues. Judging panels comprise high-profile UK journalists and representatives from Amnesty.

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at BFI Southbank in central London on Wednesday 22 April, hosted by television presenter, journalist & broadcaster, Naga Munchetty.

Shorthand is a visual storytelling platform used by international brands to create engaging, multimedia stories online. The company’s annual awards celebrate excellence in storytelling. Winners will be announced on Friday 13 March.

Ian Reeves, Head of The Centre for Journalism at Kent said Kenneth’s project is superb: ‘It details the struggles of the vast number of Venezuelan refugees trying to start new lives in Peru. Brilliantly researched and sourced, with a huge array of compelling stories.

‘It provides a real insight into how the Venezuelan crisis has affected a range of ordinary people’s live, while also giving users a great deal of agency in how they explore it. Different storytelling techniques are used very effectively, especially maps which chart both the general exodus to Peru and the individual journeys of the people involved’.