Class of ’24 Master of Journalism graduate Brendan Kearns has been awarded the 2024 Democracy’s Watchdogs national award for student investigative journalism for a story revealing the stealthy marketing strategies used by energy drinks companies on university campuses.
Of the five student finalists shortlisted for the 2024 Democracy’s Watchdogs award, three were from the University of Melbourne’s Master of Journalism program. The others were Filment Ho, for his investigation on Myki ticket inspectors disproportionately targeting international students, and James Worsfold, for his story on the grey area surrounding lease transfer fees charged by real estate agents.
Judges said Brendan’s investigation “exposed how craftily energy drink companies like Red Bull had accessed huge markets of university students through student unions, sponsorships, marketing and give-aways while universities essentially looked the other way.
“Brendan surveyed 25 universities and found that 21 advertised for ‘student marketeer’ jobs in the past two years. These roles, he wrote are ‘part of Red Bull’s 4000-strong global band of student marketeers who run stalls at O-Week events and conduct promotions on and off campus.’ Sixteen of the university student unions had current or past partnerships and promotions with Red Bull.
“Brendan’s story, which was well written and clear, quoted numerous experts on the health impacts of drinks high in sugar and caffeine that can lead to anxiety, obesity, tooth decay and Type 2 diabetes.”
Brendan said in his supporting statement to judges: “It always struck me as strange that energy drink giveaways were so ubiquitous at universities across Australia. Was it not counterintuitive that institutions teaching public health are used to market unhealthy drinks?’’
The story was initiated, researched and written by Brendan as an assessment task in the investigative journalism subject which is offered to Master of Journalism and Master of International Journalism students. The final piece was published in the Weekend Australian.
Brendan, who recently commenced a cadetship at News Corp Australia, also won the best longform audio journalism story alongside Molly Frew, awarded by the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia, for their reporting on Australia’s atomic testing legacy at Emu Plains.
It’s the third time University of Melbourne journalism students have won the award in the five years since the Democracy’s Watchdogs launched the initiative.
In 2022, our students won the Democracy’s Watchdogs award for their investigation into the breathtaking state of truck pollution in Melbourne’s inner west, which was co-published with The Age, and in 2020, two students were recognised for their investigation into how China uses Muslim press trips to counter claims of Uighur abuse, which was co-published in the United Kingdom with The Observer.
Democracy’s Watchdogs is a non-profit organisation which aims to honour the work of Australian investigative journalists and educate the public about the process and value of investigative journalism. It was founded by Dr Bill Birnbauer, a veteran investigative reporter and senior editor at The Age and The Sunday Age, and former journalism educator at Monash University. Birnbauer was recently recognised as an alumni of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism.
