Congratulations to MA students Laura Garcia, Lizzie Massey and Qandeel Warrich, whose video about lone yachtsman Oliver Rofix went out on the Media Trust's Community Channel this week.

You can see it on the Community Channel web site here - it's the first item in the programme.

And for older viewers, it's a chance to see how Anthea Turner's career is panning out.

The Centre for Journalism's BA in Journalism and the News Industry has been recognised as Britain's top performing undergraduate degree in journalism.  At an NCTJ awards ceremony in Belfast City Hall last night Prof. Tim Luckhurst and Ian Reeves were presented with a certificate confirming our top ranking in academic year 2010/11.  Tim Luckhurst said: "This award is an immense tribute to all the excellent staff in the Centre who have worked so hard to design and deliver this unique combination of professional education and academic rigour - and to the excellent students who study with us. When we launched the degree we pledged to make it the best in the country. It is particularly gratifying to know that we have beaten all the competition." 

  Not Premier League Proven (NPLP) is a podcast created by journalism students at the University of Kent who all love football. The podcast consists of six students offering fresh comment, every Wednesday, on the latest gossip surrounding the beautiful game.

Rochester & Strood MP Mark Reckless joined a second year undergraduate news team in the television studio to talk about plans for a third power station on the Hoo Peninsula.

Many congratulations to Jay  Akbar, Peter Brown, Scott Mitchell, Danielle Morris and Tania Steere who have all made the shortlist for the Bob Friend Memorial Scholarship 2011.  The standard of submissions was particularly high and I am grateful to everyone who made a submission.  The shortlisted candidates will meet the selection panel on 9 February.  I know that everyone in the Centre will join me in wishing them all the very best of luck.

The results for the shorthand exam taken on 26 March are now published on the NCTJ website.  Many congratulations to all second years who passed.  If you cannot access them, let me know.

BBC Director General Mark Thompson thinks the current generation of journalism students will be entering a world that is full of opportunities.

Last night Thompson delivered the second Bob Friend Memorial Lecture at the University of Kent, which awards a scholarship in the former Sky News presenter’s name to a first-year undergraduate student every year.

This morning at 8am the Centre for Journalism Newswire goes live to the world. The project is being undertaken as part of the Centre's Online news day for second-year undergraduates. We will be covering - for one day only - a mix of national and international stories, as well as local stories relevant to Kent using a variety of multimedia techniques.

Second year Centre for Journalism undergraduate John Saunders got the chance to grill the Prime Minister last week, and he didn't waste the opportunity. At a Question Time session organised by the Kent Messenger Group, Saunders quizzed Gordon Brown on an opinion poll showing that a majority of respondents feel British troop involvement in Afghanistan is increasing the risk of terrorist attacks at home. Here's the full exchange, filmed by the KMG's online team.

Cue: An implanted, sand-grain-size microchip is now able to remind patients to take their medicine via text messages. Melanie Wimmer reports.

The blockbuster movie of the summer gets its eagerly-anticipated premiere today. Directed by Bafta-winner Richard Pendry, it contains all the elements you would expect from the Centre for Journalism stable:  a stellar cast; superb production values; a brilliant script; heart-stopping action; thrilling drama; and, of course, tender romance.