By LUKE MORTIMER

The combination of pictures and words to create a compelling story was what gave Nicola McCaskill the winning edge with her entry on a day in the life of a sex worker, according to Ossie Awards judge Brenton Edwards.

She was one of two mojonews reporters who topped their categories in the prestigious journalism awards, while three other Monash students were highly commended.

Ms McCaskill, mojonews.com.au health editor, produced the winning photojournalism entry and reporter Jack Paynter won the investigative category.

They were winners in the 14-category Ossie Awards, which attracted more than 150 entries from universities across Australia and New Zealand.

It capped a strong performance from Monash University where Simon Gradowski, Brendan O’Shea, and Alana Mitchelson were also highly commended in other categories.

See a full list of winners and the judges’ comments             

Ms McCaskill’s photo essay, Everything but … life as a sex worker, followed Melbourne sex worker Clarissa Darling.

She said the promotion of sex work on social media meant Clarissa was comfortable in front of a camera. But she said Clarissa was “quite frustrated” by the representation of her profession in mainstream media.

“There’s a lot of stories about brothels and prostitution, but it’s often through the lens of crime,” she said.

“I made it clear that I wanted her to tell her own story.

“That’s what I think [photojournalism] does best – it shows something that you don’t normally see.”

Judge Brenton Edwards commended Ms McCaskill for her careful handling of the story.

“Nicola has captured the essence of the story with well-composed images that tell the story of the daily and often uninspiring work of a sex worker without being gratuitous,” he said.

“Nicola embraced the complete ideology of photojournalism by combining images and words to create a compelling story.”

Jack Paynter’s investigate feature, The Wait for the Willows, uncovered a long list of failures in a business venture to grow trees for high-performance cricket bats.

He exposed company directors who continued to charge investors hefty fees, despite failing to offer a return in the decade since it began.

Mr Paynter said the investigation, first published in The Age, “just snowballed” after he spoke to angry investors.

“I just happened to call Ian Callen [a source] … and he spilt a bit of dirt on them, and gave me a few extra contacts,” he said.

“It just gave it more voices, more points of view, and just allowed me to find multiple stories within a story.”

Judge Nance Haxton said it went beyond unravelling a failed business to expose the failures of regulators.

“[It] also exposed the failure of regulatory bodies in keeping such schemes accountable to their investors,” she said.

“Not only was there thorough research in the background but the interviews were fantastic.”

She said Mr Paynter engaged readers with a compelling voice to overcome the story’s complexities.

“Jack’s refreshing, lively and easy-to-read style … made what could have been a boring business story into a compelling read from beginning to end.”