MEMO: Year-end awards & How to Submit Your Stories
Attn: Graduating Students
From: Dean Huff
Re: Year-end Awards for M.S. & M.A. Students
April 22, 2009
Each year on Journalism Day the school confers awards on several top-performing students. Each prize winner will receive a certificate and some will receive additional cash prizes (this depends on how the awards were originally set up). Below you will find the descriptions of this year’s awards.
These awards are open to any M.S. students graduating in this cycle (May 2009, Feb. 2009 and Oct. 2008). Some awards are also open to M.A. students - noted in each award description.
There are two broad categories of awards: those for which students can submit entries that are judged by faculty juries; and those decided by the professors teaching the course for which they are awarded - no submissions are accepted for these.
Please note: There are two awards run and judged by alumni - the Sander and Blood awards, which have already accepted submissions.
Another prize, the Harron Award, is decided by a faculty committee from nominations provided by the J-school community - see separate announcement). All M.S., M.A., Knight Bagehot, and Ph.D. students are eligible.
For juried awards, you may submit applications for no more than two categories (the Blood, Hechinger and Sander awards are not part of the limit), and each application can contain only one story, or segment of a Master’s Project/Thesis no longer than 3,500 words (or 10-12 minutes of video or audio; for new media projects, submit specific URLs in addition to an overall URL, and printouts of the relevant pages).
The decisions of the faculty judges are final, and their deliberations are confidential.
If you are submitting an application for one of the juried awards, you must submit clean, hard copy (or broadcast materials, if applicable, WITH SCRIPTS, or for new media projects, submit specific URLs in addition to an overall URL, and printouts of the relevant pages) to the boxes in 2M07A (in the Career Services area) between Monday, April 27, at 10 a.m. and Monday, May 4 at 10 a.m. IN ADDITION, please e-mail copies of your submissions to cc2964@columbia.edu. If you are coming after business hours, please drop off the entries through the slot of the gray box outside of the DOS offices(Huff/Sreenivasan) PLEASE SUBMIT THREE COPIES OF EACH ITEM.
Make sure everything is clearly labeled with your name, the class and professor for whom you did the story and the exact award category you are entering.
If you are entering more than one category, you must have a separate, labeled envelope for each entry (note: no more than two categories per student, not including Blood, Hechinger, Sander). We will not be returning entries.
You can also read about how students graduate with honors in this previous DOS Blog post about year-end awards and grading.
FAQs about all this at the end of this post.
If you have any questions, please address them to dos@jrn.columbia.edu.
Regards,
Dean Huff
AWARDS TAKING SUBMISSIONS (descriptions below):
Balakian Award for writing about literature (M.A. eligible)
Blood Award for reporting (closed)
Criticism Prize (M.A. eligible)
Hechinger Education Journalism Award - special instructions
Horgan Prizes (3) for science writing
Mencher Award for superior reporting
Sander Award for social justice reporting (closed)
Weschler for local reporting
Weschler for national reporting
Weschler for international reporting
AWARDS NOT TAKING SUBMISSIONS:
M.A. Thesis Prize
Baker Award for Bronx Beat
Baker Award for CNS
Baker Award for Magazine Workshops
Brown Award for history of journalism (M.A. eligible)
Greer Award for financial writing
Peter Keller Award for Editing
Joan Konner Broadcast Journalism Award
Lynton Fellowship in Book Writing (All Book seminar students eligible)
Nelson Award for national affairs reporting
New Media Workshop Award
Nightly News Workshop Award
Photography Award
Radio Workshop Award
Sackett Award for Law Class
Taylor Award for best international student
Video Storytelling Workshop Award
Louis Winnick Prize for RWI Writing
AWARD WITH NOMINATIONS FROM J-SCHOOL COMMUNITY
Harron Award for excellence in reporting as well as exemplary kindness and
courtesy to fellow students (see separate announcement)
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2009 STUDENT PRIZES IN DETAIL
AWARDS TAKING SUBMISSIONS
THE NONA BALAKIAN AWARD (M.A. eligible)
The Nona Balakian Award was established in 1992 to honor the student who shows the most promise for achievement in writing about literature. Ms. Balakian, a 1943 graduate of the Journalism School, was an editor at the New York Times Book Review and had much influence on American arts and letters for more than four decades. Book reviews, profiles and articles about the literary world are acceptable.
THE RICHARD BLOOD AWARD (closed for submissions)
The Richard Blood Award is given to the student–judged by a panel of the former professor’s students–to have written the best investigative, hard-news or news feature story.
THE CRITICISM PRIZE (M.A. eligible)
The Criticism Prize was established to recognize a student’s achievement in criticism.
THE FRED M. HECHINGER EDUCATION JOURNALISM AWARD (for education coverage)
This award is given to a student who produces outstanding work in education reporting. This award was established by the Hechinger Institute on Media and Education at Teachers College, in honor of New York Times education editor, Fred M. Hechinger. See separate entry information, deadline and process here:
HORGAN PRIZES
There are three Horgan awards given to the students who have written the best stories focused on science, health or the environment.
MELVIN MENCHER REPORTING AWARD
The Melvin Mencher Award was established by the students, friends and associates of Professor Melvin Mencher, the man who wrote that text book, who retired in 1990. The award recognizes a student who has demonstrated “superior reporting” in general, or in a specific story or project during the academic year.
THE LESLIE SANDER AWARD (Closed for submissions)
The award is given by the Class of 1989 in memory of a classmate, Leslie Sander, who died after a courageous bout with cancer. The winner is chosen on the basis of a story idea that carries on the journalism for social justice that Leslie would have done.
THE JAMES A. WECHSLER MEMORIAL AWARDS
The first James A. Wechsler Memorial Award is presented to the student who, in the judgment of the Faculty, submits the best story on a significant local issue. The awards were established by the Pisces Foundation in memory of the former editor and columnist at the New York Post. The second James A. Wechsler Memorial Award is presented to the student who submits the best story on a significant national issue. The final James A. Wechlser memorial Award is presented to the student who submits the best story on a significant international
issue.
AWARDS NOT TAKING SUBMISSIONS:
M.A. Thesis Award
This award honors the best M.A. thesis as determined by the M.A. faculty.
THE RICHARD T. BAKER AWARDS
The Richard T. Baker Award for outstanding performance in the Newspaper Workshop - both the Bronx Beat and the Columbia News Service - was established in honor of the late Dick Baker, a J-School graduate and long-time professor who also served as acting dean, associate dean, historian and administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes. The second Richard T. Baker Award is for outstanding performance in the Magazine Workshops.
THE SEVELLON BROWN AWARD
The Sevellon Brown Award goes to a student who, in judgment of the Faculty, has demonstrated exceptional knowledge and understanding of the history of American journalism. Sevellon Brown, a former editor
of the Providence Journal & Bulletin Newspapers, was a key founder of the American Press Institute, which began in this building. (M.A. eligible)
PHILIP GREER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND AWARD
The Philip Greer Memorial Scholarship Fund Award, presented for the first time in 1988, was established in honor of the late Mr. Greer, a financial correspondent and columnist for the New York Herald-Tribune
and The Washington Post, to recognize the outstanding student in financial writing.
THE ROBERT HARRON AWARD
The Robert Harron Award is presented to the student who has demonstrated excellence in writing and reporting as well as exemplary kindness and courtesy to fellow students. The award was established
in memory of Robert Harron, the former sportswriter and long-time assistant to the presidents of this university, through gifts from his many friends. (Call for nominations)
THE PETER KELLER PRIZE FOR EDITING
The Peter Keller Prize is presented to a student who shows great promise in editing. This award is made possible by a gift from Lisa Keller Yakas and Saky Yakas
THE JOAN KONNER AWARD
This prize is presented to the student who has produced the most thought-provoking and original television and radio reporting.
THE LYNTON FELLOWSHIP IN BOOK WRITING (All students in the Book Writing Seminare are eligible)
Lynton Fellowship in Book Writing is given for outstanding work in the Book Writing seminar.
THE LARS-ERIK NELSON PRIZE
The Lars-Erik Nelson Prize was established by the New York Daily News, in honor of Lars-Erik Nelson, its distinguished Washington columnist, who died in 2000. It is presented to a student for best reporting or opinion piece in one of the National Affairs Reporting seminars.
THE NEW MEDIA WORKSHOP AWARD
This award is for outstanding performance in the New Media Workshop.
THE NIGHTLY NEWS AWARD
This award is given for outstanding performance in Nightly News Workshop.
THE PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD
ThePhotography Award is given for outstanding perfomance in the photography courses.
THE RADIO WORKSHOP AWARD
This award is for outstanding performance in Nightly News Workshop.
THE HENRY SACKETT AWARD
The Sackett Award is given to an outstanding journalist who, in the judgment of the Faculty, did the best work in the course on the law of journalism. The award is part of the fund established in the will of Colonel Henry Woodward Sackett.
THE HENRY N. TAYLOR AWARD
The Henry N. Taylor Award was established in 1962 by friends of Henry Taylor, a journalist who was killed on assignment in the Congo at the age of 31. The award is given at the end of each school year to that member of the International Division who has demonstrated the qualities of a superior journalist. The award includes a grant providing for travel in the United States before returning to his or her homeland.
THE VIDEO STORYTELLING WORKSHOP
This award is for outstanding performance in Video Storytelling Workshop.
THE LOUIS WINNICK PRIZE FOR RWI
This award in memory of Louis Winnick, is given to the best story done in RWI in the previous calendar year. The story must demonstrate outstanding reporting and writing, along with great precision and accuracy in grammar. This year’s winner has already been selected.
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FAQs ABOUT AWARD SUBMISSIONS
Over the years, students have asked questions along these lines:
* Can I submit more than one entry per award?
THE ANSWER: No, you cannot. We want you to pick the best story and submit it, rather than send in more than one for any one award.
* Can I really only submit entries in two awards?
THE ANSWER: We want you to pick up to two awards and submit stories for those only. The Sander, Blood and Hechinger awards aren’t part of that quota.
* Can I submit same piece for two different awards?
THE ANSWER: Yes, you may submit the same story for two different awards.
* Can I submit a double-bylined story or a team production in broadcast or new media?
THE ANSWER: Yes, you may. Each year, multi-person entries do win awards.
* Does the limit of 3,500 words apply to ANY story or only to Master’s Projects/Theses (my story is currently around 4,600 words, so I need to know whether to cut it down in size or not.)
THE ANSWER: The reason we say only 3,500 words is to make the judging process
more streamlined. If you can trim your piece, please do. If, however, every word is uncuttable, attach a note explaining your reasons for turning it in a little longer.
All questions to dos@jrn.columbia.edu
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