Posted April 2024

Audio/Video

Judge: Vera Haller

Vera Haller is a professor at Baruch College, where she chairs the Department of Journalism and the Writing Professions. She also is an active freelance journalist, covering New York City news as well as foreign stories. Among the news outlets where she publishes are PRX’s The World, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Thomson Reuters Foundation. Before joining the faculty at Baruch, Haller worked as a reporter and/or editor at Newsday, Reuters, CNN and The Associated Press.

First Place Citywide:

“What’s Cooking At FLHS: Culinary Program Creates Future Generation of Chefs” Francis Lewis High School

This video report is well reported and well written. It includes interesting visuals and the topic – an in-depth look at the school’s new culinary program – is newsworthy. The student reporters did a very good job including a range of sources – other students, the program director and a school administrator, who all added different perspectives to the story. The “b-roll” — visuals of the culinary program in operation — was crisp and steady and the editing held the whole story together. Excellent job.

Second Place Citywide:

“Episode 01: SAG-AFTRA and the Future of Media”

Stuyvesant High School

This podcast episode is engaging and well researched. The students deeply examined the impact of advancing technology on the arts using the writers’ and actors’ strike as a news peg. The host did an excellent job interviewing the guest, a music appreciation teacher at Stuyvesant who is also a member of SAG. The podcast included interesting descriptions of how students used AI technology to create a rap song about Stuyvesant, providing insightful and concrete examples of how this technology will transform the industry. The overall production was very professional.

Honorable Mention Citywide:

Townsend Harris’ 2023 College Video Townsend Harris High School

This video montage celebrating the college acceptances of the school’s seniors deserves an honorable mention. Creative videography and masterful editing captured the joy of the students’ accomplishments.

Remarks for the Category:

As a journalist who has included multimedia in her reporting, it is exciting to see high school students using video and audio in their news coverage. My advice is to continue to find those stories that lend themselves to the eye and to the ear, and to always seek to draw your audiences into your stories with strong visuals and interesting voices.

Features

Judges: Alexa Capeloto and Emily Johnson

Alexa Capeloto is an associate professor of journalism and media at John Jay College/CUNY. She earned her master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and has worked as a reporter and editor at The Glendale News-Press, The Detroit Free Press and The San Diego Union-Tribune, eventually serving as the Union-Tribune’s enterprise editor. Since joining the John Jay faculty in 2009, she has published several legal, scholarly and journalistic articles related to Freedom of Information laws, paying particular attention to the intersection of privatization and the public’s right to know.

Emily H. Johnson, a professor of journalism at Baruch College, is an independent multimedia journalist who has reported in East Africa, Southeast Asia, Europe, and New York. Her body of work includes photography, radio, video, and writing. She graduated from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism (CUNY) in 2010. She currently lives in Brooklyn but continues to report abroad.

Features, Citywide First Place Winner:

Townsend Harris High School, The Classic. “A year after Roe v. Wade was overturned, few Harrisites aware of program making condoms, sexual health resources available to students” by Lauren Hamlin, Veronica Kuzma, Maria Mattei, Niharika Ojha, Irene Skandalakis, and Ewa Stasiewicz.

This deeply reported piece is a fantastic example of how to take a timely national issue and examine how it impacts your own community. Explicitly framing students’ lack of access and awareness when it comes to the school’s sexual health resources against the backdrop of the fall of Roe vs. Wade demonstrates great news sense, lending high stakes to the story. Highlights include a clear and compelling nut graph and a rich selection of quotes and background research—not to mention dogged shoe-leather reporting in tracking down the school’s required health resources room. The student journalists behind this story deserve major congratulations on their achievement.

Features, Citywide Second Place Winner:

Francis Lewis High School, Francis Lewis News. “The Digital World In the Space of Learning” by Alexandra Baron and Aisha Saeed.

An engaging anecdotal lede draws the reader into this story, which delves into what has become a common problem in high schools around the country in this digital era. This story looks at the particular cell phone policy at Francis Lewis, how teachers are implementing it, and how students are evading it. A nice cross-section of quotes provides the different perspectives, and the citing of a study linking cell phone use to diminished academic performance gives the story real-world resonance. Well done.

Features, Citywide Third Place Winner:

High School for Math, Science, and Engineering, The Echo. “Campus Chronicles: A Conversation with CCNY’s President, Dr. Boudreau” by Orlena Fella, Md Islam, Raymon Morillo and Zoe Otto.

The excellent writing and scene-setting in this profile are what elevate it from a simple profile to a richly painted portrait. There’s a real voice evident here, which is always an asset in a piece of feature writing, and the details and playful anecdotes are a great example of the “show, don’t tell” principle. By the end, the reader gets a strong sense of who this college president is and what impact he’s had in the community he leads.

Features, New Newspapers First Place Winner:

High School for Math, Science, and Engineering, The Echo, “Campus Chronicles: A Conversation with CCNY’s President, Dr. Boudreau,” by Orlena Fella, Md Islam, Raymon Morillo and Zoe Otto

This “conversation” is a nuanced portrait of a college leader that skillfully weaves together quotes, description, background information and even a funny surprise in the second to last paragraph. The reader finishes the piece with a strong sense of the subject and his significance to the community that encompasses the high school. It’s also just a fun read, thanks to the candid, personal tone throughout.

Features, New Newspapers Second Place Winner:

Queens School of Inquiry, QSInquirer, “Students and Staff Speak Out on AP Classes,” by Atchijah Ravinathen

This piece pulls together many voices around the issue of AP classes. The writer has a knack for knowing what information to give the reader and in what order. Background information helps explain the purpose of AP courses both nationwide and at this school, and quotes from differing perspectives provide a layered look at how (and whether) the courses actually serve their intended purpose. Hyperlinks help provide context as well. This feels like it took a lot of reporting, and the effort pays off.

Features, New Newspapers Third Place Winner:

Forest Hills High School, The Beacon, “A Bittersweet Goodbye to Ms. Klemas, Hills’ Co-Librarian,” by Athena Vishudanand and Salma Baksh

The headline gives a good sense of what this is: a heartfelt, thoroughly reported farewell to a departing librarian. It has the hallmarks of a strong profile: detailed description, well-chosen quotes from the subject and from others, background information, and acknowledgment of challenges as well as successes. The journalists show respect to Ms. Klemas through the work they did here, including the smart choice of giving her the final word in the kicker.

Remarks for the Category:

We often say features answer the “how” and “why” questions, delving deeper into newsy subjects so that readers can fully grasp their significance. These stories impressively showcased a range of newsworthy people and topics, and we commend all who submitted. Going forward, it’s good to remember that while feature stories are perhaps more creative than news stories, they must still adhere to high journalistic standards. That means more facts and fewer opinions or generalizations, interviewees representing a diversity of perspectives, reliable and relevant background research, and clear, engaging writing built with specific nouns and vivid verbs versus adjectives and adverbs. Resist the urge to become a cheerleader for your topic, or to tie things up with a moral at the end. Let the hard-earned reported elements tell the story all the way through. It takes more work, but it pays off with readers. Congratulations again to everyone for their fine work.

Illustration/Comic/Cartoon

Judge Jeremy Nguyen

Jeremy Nguyen has been contributing regularly to The New Yorker since 2017. He has provided illustrations and cartoons to Netflix, HBO, Hermés, Bottega Veneta, The Strand Bookstore, and is author of the book Can I Pet Your Dog?. He teaches at Parsons School of Design in Manhattan and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Illustration/Comic/Cartoon Citywide First Place Winner:

“Worm on a String” by Anna Bukhman, Midwood High School

To make a series of comic strips that have a strong voice can be difficult to accomplish for even a professional cartoonist, yet Anna Bukhman’s ‘Worm of a String’ already shows a fully formed cartoonist with something to say. It’s a breath of fresh air to see humor flow so confidently, passionately, and consistently onto the page. Fabulously illustrated, very funny, great job!

Illustration/Comic/Cartoon, Citywide Second Place Winner:

“BC2M Comes to Edison: Fighting Mental Health Stigma” by Sabiqur Liza, Thomas Edison CTE High school.

This series on mental health pairs well with the article. The color palette unites them all and there is a beautiful craft to the imagery themselves. The compositions are balanced, and the combination of text and image makes them a wonderful campaign for an important message. Well done!

Illustration/Comic/Cartoon, Honorable Mention:

“X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, gets an F from students” by Zerlina Yauj, Townsend Harris High School

Effective and communicative image of the article’s message. Great editorial choices and drawn well.

Remarks for the Category:

Editorial cartooning is changing. Journalism faces all sorts of challenges, and it is unfortunate that cartooning and illustration should be preserved not removed. The students display a passion for illustrated work and prove its necessity to the future of the medium. It’s my honor to see that this generation has a passion for creating images and are ready to look after it, cultivate it, and move it forward.

National/World News with a Local Lens

Judge: Lonnie Isabel

Lonnie Isabel has been a reporter, editor, and journalism professor, much of it in New York. He is currently a writer and press freedom advocate in Oklahoma. Lonnie was a deputy managing editor of Newsday, where he led coverage of several presidential campaigns, the second Iraq war, the Sept. 11th terrorists’ attacks, and other major stories. He has taught journalism at CUNY and Columbia Journalism School, and continues to edit and teach journalism, most recently in Liberia.

National/World News with a Local Lens Citywide First Place Winner

Townsend Harris High School reporters Isabel Jagsaran, Carina Fucich, and Sadeea Morshed for a meticulously reported and skillfully crafted takeout on a national issue that played out at the school, after a student staged a pro-Palestinian protest, claimed falsely that he had been expelled, and launched a huge debate over the war, free speech and students’ rights to protest. The reporters, mining student social media posts, finding a tape of a teacher taking a strong political stand in support of Israel in a class, and interviewing students, administrators, and teachers, took a subject that was in hot debate around the country and wove together a fair, balanced, nuanced, and contextual look at how the drama unfolded in the school’s very corridors and classrooms.

National/World News with a Local Lens, Citywide Second Place Winner

Stuyvesant High School reporters Cathleen Xi, Suyeon Ryu, Hifza Kaleem, Ada Gordon for a valuable and closely researched piece on what the Supreme Court ruling on Affirmative Action could mean for the future of students at the elite high school, itself a subject of debate over the racial composition of its students, now about 70 percent Asian. The suit that overturned affirmative action was brought on behalf on Asian college students. The reporters wrote with sensitivity to this, and persuaded students of multiple races to speak freely about their own place in the debate and what it meant to their futures. Of note, was the analytic tone that the writers struck to show the history of affirmative action and the reach of the court’s decision.

National/World News with a Local Lens, New Newspaper First Place Winner

Bronx River High School reporters Myess Hammouri and Jomayra Amparo for a story that explored both sides of the national debate over Artificial Intelligence in the classroom by focusing on an AI program that helped in the editing of the newspaper and by talking with teachers and students about their experiences and fears of the developing technology.

Remarks for the Category:

The winners in this category this year have produced the most impressive stories yet, since I have been a judge. They are close to professional quality. In fact, it was difficult to separate the top two citywide entries. The new school category was well represented, and the top story was the best of several quality entries. Great Work!

Opinion

Judge: Amy Zimmer

Amy Zimmer is the Bureau Chief for Chalkbeat New York. She is an award-winning journalist who previously covered education for the New York news site DNAinfo. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Metro newspaper, and City Limits, among other outlets. Her book, “Meet Miss Subways,” focused on one of the nation’s first integrated beauty contests. Amy received her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Yale and has a master’s in journalism from New York University. She got her start in journalism writing for The Beacon, the student newspaper at Forest Hills High School in Queens.

New Newspaper First Place Winner

Anastacia Vidot’s piece in the Bronx River News, “Finding the right balance in a home filled with tempting food,” takes readers on a journey into the writer’s life as she recounts her complicated relationship with food and her weight. She invites readers in by using vivid language and choosing her details carefully. Though the piece isn’t long, what she shares often speaks volumes — she touches briefly on her parents’ breakup, having to move in with her uncle, and having access to more food than she’d had in months. She charts her evolution with exercise and motivation in a way that felt authentic and hard-earned. The story ends on an uplifting note, and in doing so may inspire her classmates to make healthy choices, too.

New Newspaper Second Place Winner

Rukhmah Nauman’s piece in the QSInquirer, “What does the hijab mean to you?,” is a thoughtful exploration of her own feelings about being a hijabi and also nicely captures the voices of other Muslim classmates who do or do not wear a hijab. Rukhmah succinctly explains the religious underpinnings of the head covering and deftly shows how nuanced and personal the decision to wear a hijab can be for young Muslim women like herself. By incorporating her own views and that of others, her piece feels resonant.

Citywide First Place Winner

Sophia Dasser’s Spectator piece, “Muslim Girls Against Co-Ed Swim Gym,” dives deep into a school issue that is adversely affecting a group of students in consequential ways. As Stuyvesant recently brought back mandatory swimming, it ditched its girls-only swim classes, which is a problem for some Muslim girls concerned about modesty. Sophia explains that Muslim students were not part of the discussions around dropping the single-sex swim classes, and she makes a strong case that their voices should have been included. Sophia writes from her own perspective as a hijabi and also spoke to other students about their experiences. She also asks her fellow students to speak out about this, regardless of whether they are personally affected, hoping her call to action will have an impact on school policy.

Citywide Second Place Winner

Inessa Tchistova’s piece in Columbia Secondary School’s paper on “The other side of grades: Creating personal meaning behind your report card,” offers a thought-provoking look at finding joy for learning and a surprising silver lining for her experience during remote schooling. (She acknowledges that was feasible because she had a safe place to learn.) Her piece speaks directly to her peers in a kind of knowing and conversational way that draws us in and invites readers to respond to her musings. The topic feels timely and relevant. It was also great to see that the paper invited students to react to the essay with a discussion on grades.

Citywide Honorable Mention

In her opinion piece in The Classic, “Busing issues deprive students with IEPs from equal access to the educational opportunities at THHS,” Maisha Rahman makes a case: She is being shut out from certain opportunities at Townsend Harris because of how the city is fulfilling her mandate for a yellow school bus on her Individualized Education Program. She has taken her personal experience to illuminate an injustice that she is experiencing — and she wants things to change so others won’t experience what she’s going through.

General thoughts:

Writing a strong opinion piece can be a challenge. For some kinds of opinion pieces, you need to do legwork and reporting and then figure out how to weave that into whatever case you’re making about a particular issue. Others are rooted in personal experience, and should connect the dots on how an author’s experience speaks to a larger issue.

Opinion pieces should be relevant to your readers. They might have a call to action or offer up solutions — whether it’s a change in policy or changing a reader’s outlook on an issue.

Though opinion pieces don’t have to be rooted in an author’s personal experience, having a personal hook can sometimes make a piece much stronger. And having a distinct style and voice tends to be important in opinion pieces. That’s what can grab your reader’s attention and make the piece feel different than more traditional reporting.

Photojournalism

Judge Adi Talwar

Adi Talwar is an award-winning New York City based photojournalist with a background in design, engineering and art. For over a decade, Adi’s photography has centered around civic issues, communities and individuals. He is a regular contributor to CityLimits.org. Adi has also been published in the Norwood News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, WNYC, MetroFocus, and Gothamist, to name a few. Over the years, Adi has participated in solo and group exhibitions. Adi was a BRIO (Bronx Recognizes its Own) recipient in 2020.

First Place Citywide Winner

Kai Kwo of Curtis High School.
Kai Kwo skillfully used available light and shadow to capture the joy of students coming together for homecoming. Our eyes instinctively gravitate toward the brightest elements in the photograph, then, we journey through the image, taking in expressions and other details. Each time we look at the photograph, we discover more. Kai Kwo’s photograph demonstrates that shadows, just like light, play an important role in capturing the essence of a moment.

Thank you to all who participated in this year’s photojournalism competition. Here’s some feedback:
1. Make Photographs, Not Take Photographs: Be deliberate about what you include in your frame and what you exclude. Fill your frame. Instead of relying on zoom, use your feet.
2. Embrace Experimentation: Get to know your camera well. Experiment with different settings, angles, and compositions. It’s okay to make mistakes.
3. Guidelines Matter: When submitting entries for a competition, adhere closely to the guidelines provided. If unclear, don’t be shy to ask for clarification. This will serve you well in life as a whole.

School/Local Community News

Judge: Jere Hester

New Newspaper First Place Winner:

Queens School of Inquiry, “QSI’s Girls’ Bathroom Doesn’t Measure Up,” Justine Barrera, QSInquirer

Reporter Justine Barrera of the QSInquirer lived up to her news outlet’s name by producing a standout story that began with two great questions: Why is the girls’ bathroom at the Queens School of Inquiry dirtier and in worse repair than others in the multi-school campus? And where are the required feminine hygiene products? Her story, complete with interviews and telling pictures, revealed inequities and challenged administrators to make fixes and changes.

New Newspaper Second Place Winner:

Pace High School, “Aging Gym Poses Disadvantage to Student Athletes,” Carolyn Taveras and Ramata Diop, Pacer NYC

The huge rainstorm that slammed the city in late September hit the already battered basement gym at Pace High School hard. Reporters Carolyn Taveras and Ramata Diop shined a spotlight on damaged floors and other woes that have hindered school athletics while pointing out potentially dangerous conditions. The duo’s story put the ball in the administrators court to take action.

Citywide First Place Winner:

Queens School of Inquiry, “QSI’s Girls’ Bathroom Doesn’t Measure Up,” Justine Barrera, QSInquirer

(SEE BLURB ABOVE)

Citywide Second Place Winner:

Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, “Closing of the Library Raises Concerns,” Gillian Acker and Brid Smyth, The Bennett

When administrators at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts announced plans to close the school’s library for a year to create space for test-taking, reporters Gillian Acker and Brid Smyth sprung into action. Their story not only gives voice to student concerns about the loss of library use, but also notes that the school’s move violates state regulations.

Closing of the Library Raises Concerns

Remarks for the Category

The strongest of an impressive crop of entries start with reporters observing what’s happening in their school community — and then following a trail blazed by their own curiosity, along with the experiences of their fellow students and other stakeholders.

Some general suggestions: Interview as many people as possible across the school community. The more you ask, the more you’ll learn — and the better you’ll be able to represent potentially varying viewpoints. Don’t hesitate to keep pushing and digging — when you’re stymied by administrators, that probably means you’re on to something they might rather not see published. And while pointing out problems is one path to getting action, try coupling that with giving voice to proposed solutions.

Overall, it’s great to see so many stories that serve readers by connecting them to their community, while offering information and insight. That’s what good local journalism is all about.

Sports Writing

Judge: Peter Sblendorio

Peter Sblendorio is a sports reporter for the New York Daily News, where has worked since 2015 and covers MLB, the NBA, college basketball and more. Peter previously served as the Daily News’ Senior Film Writer, covering movie releases, festivals and award shows. Peter is a Dallas native and a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.

Sports Writing First Place Winner:

Brooklyn Technical High School, “Boys Cross Country Team Makes History,” Jacob Tobman, The Survey

Through clean writing and detail, Jacob captures the lengths different members of the Brooklyn Tech cross country team went to in this thorough yet easily digestible feature.

Sports Writing Second Place Winner and First Place in the New Newspaper Category

Queens School of Inquiry, “New PSAL rule makes sports more accessible,” Julia Leopando and Kelly Orzuna, Queens School of Inquiry

Julia and Kelly’s reporting puts faces to both sides of a nuanced topic. Objectively weighing the pros and cons of student-athletes competing at different schools raises awareness while allowing readers to consider its context.

Remarks for the Category

Whether they were covering championships or controversies, reporters in this group were at their best when speaking with multiple sources to tell a well-rounded story.

Sports journalism is about so much more than in-game Xs and Os. Finding compelling stories about individual athletes brings a human element to the coverage that really resonates with readers. Putting games or moments into context — by telling us why these games and moments are important — is what makes a reporter a trusted authority.

Anecdotes are a powerful way to open a story and hook readers. Just make sure it’s the right anecdote, as forcing one that doesn’t quite fit can be counterproductive.

Continue to look for stories in unexpected places and keep up the great work.

Best Online Newspaper

Judges: Katie Honan and Gisele Regatão

Katie Honan is a senior reporter at THE CITY, a non-profit news site in New York City, and a co-host of the FAQ NYC podcast. She previously was the City Hall reporter at The Wall Street Journal, covered Queens neighborhoods for DNAinfo, and was a social media and web editor at NBC 4 New York. At THE CITY, her reporting has uncovered previously unknown circumstances surrounding Barry the owl’s death, a change in the city’s treatment of runaway youth, and a plan for the NYPD to use drones to help potential drowning victims. She has won multiple journalism awards, including for her coverage of superstorm Sandy, of the pandemic, and Amazon’s failed bid to move to New York City.

Gisele Regatão is an associate professor of journalism at Baruch College. Before that, she was an executive producer and editor for WNYC and KCRW. In the past years, she has covered Venezuelan migrants in New York, Ecuador and Brazil for The World, produced and directed the fiction podcast series a hit dog will holler, and has reported on several issues, including the cult of Columbus on monuments, the hidden story of a fake art scheme, how campaigns fail to get Latinos to vote and why accents are a taboo in broadcast media.

New Newspaper First Place Winner:

Martin Van Buren High School, The Bee-Hive

For its inaugural issue, The Bee-Hive made the bold move of focusing on a single topic that has been affecting a growing number of teenagers: mental health. The result is an impressive collection of essays and interviews with students that tackle different aspects of the issue, from the role of social media, to the impact of the conflict in Gaza and of breaking news in general. There are several articles specifically looking at mental health in sports, with stories about how athletes deal with it, and winning versus losing. The presentation is also dynamic and fun – it includes photos, illustrations and video.

New Newspaper Second Place Winner:

Queens School of Inquiry, QSInquirer

The QSInquirer stands out for presenting reported stories on a variety of relevant topics, including cell phone policy, AP classes, metal detectors, climate change and cultural reviews. The site makes good use of multimedia with stories like a video feature interviewing students and teachers about how they were affected by the recent floods in New York. Sports fans can check the school’s scores easily on rotating banners on the front page.

Best Online Newspaper Citywide

Brooklyn Tech High School, The Survey

Their site has stories and opinion pieces that are important to students, like a piece about metal detectors and the sad goodbye to long-standing vending machines. They also wrote features about sleep deprivation, the gender gap in the software industry, and problems with ID cards. The opinion pieces were also through, including one about field trips and equity on extracurriculars.

Citywide Second Place Winner

Pace High School, The Pacer

The Pace High School reporters published newsworthy and important stories like water tests conducted at the school, as well as a story reflecting on the lack of diversity within the school’s faculty. The Pacer also published stories about changes to financial aid for those applying to college and features about Valentine’s Day and current movies. The opinion pieces were also interesting and important to students.

Remarks for the Category: We were impressed by the range of topics covered by these publications, and also by the fact that many tackled controversial and hot-button issues. It was particularly fun to see how many sites are presenting multimedia elements with video and audio stories.

The Newsies competition – which is free of charge – is open to all NYC public high schools that have high school newspapers.

The next entry deadline is January 31, 2025 for work published in NYC public high school newspapers in 2024.

We very much look forward to seeing and acknowledging the outstanding journalism being produced within New York City’s public high school newspapers. We will be welcoming entries from new NYC public high school newspapers (first launched after 2020) as well as NYC public high school newspapers that were in existence prior to 2020. High schools with newspapers first created and launched after 2020 will be able to enter either the new newspapers division or the citywide division, not both.

Winners will be announced during Baruch College’s Spring 2025 NYC Public High School Journalism Conference at Baruch College in April 2025.

The Guidelines

Entries must be submitted by 9 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2025.
Entries must be submitted as links uploaded to separate Google Forms for each Newsies! category.
We have a new and separate division for school newspapers first launched after 2020 (“New” division). High schools with newspapers first created and launched after 2020 will be able to enter either the new newspapers division or the citywide division, not both. A Newsies judge may decide to move up a new newspaper division winner for a citywide first or second place award in place of a new newspaper category award.
After completing the Google Forms for each category your high school is entering, please send a single email to HSJournalismconference@baruch.cuny.edu AND geanne.belton@baruch.cuny.edu that provides for all of your school’s entries: the category, the headline/title, a link to the entry, and the name(s) of the student journalist(s) whose work is being entered (up to six students per entry.) Please also provide in the entry email the name(s) of the newspaper advisor(s), and the advisor’s/advisors’ contact information, including your cell phone number. Please type “2024 Entries” and the name of your school in the subject line. (We will refer to this email as the “entry email.”) Indicate “New” as the first word of the subject line for the entry email if your newspaper first launched after 2020 and you decide to enter the new newspaper division and not the citywide division. For example: “New 2024 Entries Bronx River News” as the subject line for the entry email from one high school that first launched its newspaper after 2020.) You will receive a reply to the entry email with confirmation that we have received all of your entries. If you don’t receive a reply to your entry email within 72-hours of completing the Google Forms for each entry and sending the entry email, please contact Professor Geanne Belton at geanne.belton@baruch.cuny.edu with an email with the subject line “Urgent 2025 Newsies.”
There is no entry fee. Free!
Only one entry is permitted per category for each school. If an article is a collaboration, more than one student’s name can be submitted, up to six names per submission. There is no limit on the number of times an individual student may be nominated in different categories. All entries must have been published in a school newspaper or on a school news website between January 1, 2024 and Dec. 31, 2024.
Please note that by submitting entries to this contest, students are giving permission for their work to be promoted and for any portion or all of their work possibly published online and/or in print through Baruch College and with Baruch partners.
Awards – Awards will be announced in April 2025 at the Baruch College High School Journalism Conference.
Questions? Contact: Geanne Belton (geanne.belton@baruch.cuny.edu).
Acknowledgments – This contest is being hosted by Baruch College’s NYC High School Journalism Program and Baruch College’s Department of Journalism and the Writing Professions. We have received generous support from The Google News Initiative, The Charles H. Revson Foundation, Baruch College and Baruch’s Department of Journalism and the Writing Professions, The David and Katherine Moore Family Foundation, and The Harnisch Foundation.

Below are the categories for which we will be accepting submissions. Urls for the links to the Google Forms for you to use for each category’s submissions will be posted in December.

Audio/Video Report: Includes any video or audio news report.
Feature Writing: Soft news and more in-depth articles that fall outside of standard school/community/world news and contain multiple sources obtained through students’ reporting, including interviews conducted by student journalists (ideally with three or more sources who are independent of each other and offer different perspectives.)
Illustration/Cartoon: Showcase your best student artist here.
National/World News with a Local lens: Best of your localized coverage, bringing outside stories home to your school through original reporting, including interviews conducted by student journalists (ideally with three or more sources who are independent of each other and offer different perspectives.)
Opinion/Editorial Writing: Persuasive commentary on issues relevant to your high school community.
Photojournalism: A photo that, with its caption, tells its own news or feature story or significantly enhances an accompanying news or feature story.
School and Local Community News: Coverage of a school or local community-specific issue with original reporting, including interviews (ideally with three or more sources who are independent of each other and offer different perspectives.)
Sports Writing: Original reporting of school or local sports teams and events (ideally with three or more sources who are independent of each other and offer different perspectives.)
Best NYC high school online newspaper.

Please keep in mind that judging will be based on quality of reporting and writing/illustration/audio/video content. Any fabrication or plagiarism will disqualify an entry. Photo/art submitted with an entry must comply with copyright laws.

Here is where the Google Form url’s for each category will be posted:

Audio/Video:

Feature Stories:

Illustration/Cartoon:

National/World News with a Local Lens:

Opinion/Editorial:

Photojournalism:

Reviewing:

School/Community News:

Sports Writing:

Best Online Newspaper:

The 2023 Baruch College High School Journalism Program’s Best In NYC Public High School Journalism Newsies! Winners (with Winning Submission URL’s and Judges’ Bios & Comments)

Features

Judge: Amy Zimmer

Features, Citywide First Place Winner:

Townsend Harris High School, The Classic, “Despite state funds, Queens College Bridge Program funding remains uncertain long term. A look at why THHS continues to push for greater support.” by Cecilia Taravella, William Rhee, Ryan Eng, Cate Nguyen, and Jennifer Quisi.

thhsclassic.com/16746/news/bridge-program-funding/

This piece took a subject that is critically important to its community and dove deep. It has an accountability angle in terms of what’s at stake for students if the school loses its longstanding college bridge program. And it gave the reader a glimpse into the courses and what makes them so special to students (past and present), both academically and financially. The five reporters on this story interviewed current and former students in the bridge program, including an alum who is now a professor in the program as well as one who is a politician fighting for its survival. The paper has clearly been on this story for a while, and because of that, it helped the Classic reporters to write about this subject with authority.

Features, Citywide Second Place Winner:

Edward R. Murrow High School, The Murrow Network, “First generation students reflect on the college process,” by Annabel Rothfeld.

themurrownetwork.wordpress.com/2023/01/21/first-generation-students-reflect-on-the-college-process/

This nicely written story zooms in on the college application process, focusing on an angle that speaks to many of the school’s students: what it’s like for first generation applicants. It has strong details, images of the students interviewed, and clearly states why it is so relevant to its readers: more than a third of Murrow’s students have English as a second language and many of these students will be the first in their family to attend college. The vignettes from the students illustrated various hurdles they faced. It was also interesting to hear the viewpoint from faculty, especially that only half the spots the college office offered for FAFSA help were used.

Features, New Newspaper First Place Winner:

The Laboratory School of Finance and Technology, The Eagle Express, “From Ancient Greece to HS223: Inside the scramble for recommendation letters,” by Jason Garcia.

This piece took a topic that is relevant to the lives of so many students and elevated it in a way that was not only useful and user-friendly but also fun and engaging. It starts with a call to action: don’t be shy to ask teachers for recommendation letters. But this piece isn’t merely a guide on how to ask for such letters. Yes, it has practical tips, but it also has so much more: quotes from students and staff, helpful data points from school faculty, and a fascinating mini-history lesson. It also has a smart conversational tone that speaks directly to its audience, grabbing the reader’s attention.

hs223eagleexpress.com/106/news/recommendation-letters/

Remarks for the Category:

Features should speak to your readers and illuminate new angles or take deep dives into topics that are newsworthy to them — and should clearly make the case for why the reader should care. Reading these features felt like giving me a front-row seat at what’s important to students at various schools. I enjoyed reading about the performances your schools put on, the debates over masking, and the fascinating members of your school communities. Great features should also have a strong writing, incorporate interesting details, have quotes from students and staff in the school community, and include images. It’s important to have a solid “nut graf,” as we say in the newsroom. That’s the paragraph toward the top that clearly states the “so what” of your story. And while features are different from hard news stories, it’s important to ground features in some kind of news hook, using data when possible, to illustrate why the piece matters right now.

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Illustration/Comic/Cartoon

Judge Barry Blitt

Barry Blitt is a cartoonist and illustrator. Since 1992, he has contributed illustrations and more than a hundred covers to The New Yorker. In 2020, he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning, for work that included several covers for the magazine, as well as an array of cartoons that appeared in its pages and on its Web site. Blitt’s work has also appeared in Vanity Fair, Time, Rolling Stone, and The Atlantic, and he illustrated Frank Rich’s weekly column in the New York Times. He has been honored with exhibitions and awards from the Society of Illustrators, Print, and American Illustration, and is a member of the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame. His work for children includes “George Washington’s Birthday” and “Once Upon a Time, the End (Asleep in 60 Seconds).” His latest book,“Blitt,” is a compilation of his illustrations for The New Yorker, the Times, Vanity Fair, and other publications.

Illustration/Comic/Cartoon, Citywide First Place Winner:

Midwood High School, Faizah El-Gamasy – “My Friend From Mars.”

“My Friend From Mars” is a delightful cartoon by Faizah El-Gamasy. It balances humor and science fiction – and in a casual, offhand way describes what life is like for a student in 2023 [in the USA, and on Mars]. As a bonus, it’s beautifully drawn and colored. Bravo!

www.midwoodargus.com/blog/2022/5/27/my-friend-from-mars

Illustration/Comic/Cartoon, Citywide Second Place Winner:

Edward R. Murrow High School, Juan Colon and Jenniah Phillips – “The Snack Scam.”

“The Snack Scam” by Juan Colon and Jenniah Phillips is a humorous cartoon that builds its comic set up nicely. The banter between the expressive characters is a hoot, and the gag is laid out and paced perfectly, leading to a conclusion that is funny and unexpected.

themurrownetwork.wordpress.com/2023/01/11/comic-the-snack-scam/

Illustration/Comic/Cartoon, Honorable Mention:

NYC Lab School, C.A.T., by Brooke Aviles, for the very lovely and interesting artwork and visual presentation.

Remarks for the Category:

This is a perilous time for editorial cartoonists – many newspapers and magazines have stopped running visual commentary, as the publishing industry as a whole changes. So the remaining cartoonists in the field are by necessity passionate and driven. It was a pleasure for me to review the entries in this category – much of the work appeared to have been enjoyable to create, and that is a good sign of the artists’ enthusiasm – and passion – for their craft.

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Multimedia

Judge: Alexa Capeloto

Multimedia, Citywide First Place Winner:

Francis Lewis High School,“Pandemic Performances: How the Arts are Surviving COVID-19,” Christina Dakis, Sandy Gan and Seva Karonis.

In an 8-minute video these students offer a multifaceted portrait of the state of performing arts in their school during the pandemic. They cover drama, dance and music. They capture A-roll, B-roll, various shots and angles, student voices, faculty voices, helpful narration – all of it edited into a smooth, intuitive mix that brings the viewer right into the story. The piece feels effortless, and the work it took to achieve that effect must have been quite the opposite.

flhsnews.com/8303/arts-entertainment/pandemic-performances-how-the-arts-are-surviving-covid-19/

Multimedia, Citywide Second Place Winner:

Townsend Harris High School, “Harrisites Sit-In Against Educator Sexual Misconduct,” Devin Wu

Kudos to The Classic for continuing its reporting around the sexual misconduct controversy at Townsend Harris High School. This student was on the ground during a powerful sit-in by THHS students, and interviewed students, faculty and administrators that day for individual perspectives. There probably had to be some quick work and decision-making to capture this event, and it was done well.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJi5fB3086M

Remarks for the Category:

It was a pleasure seeing the great multimedia work being done here. Each entry had a unique strength that made me root for it. Keep pursuing stories with visual and audio elements, because audiences crave them. With video work, remember to move your feet more than the camera lens. Keep your shots steady and, if you must move or pan, go slow. With all types of multimedia work, orient your audience at every turn so they understand what’s happening and can just surrender to the storytelling.

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National/World News with a Local Lens

Judge: Lonnie Isabel

Lonnie Isabel has been a reporter, editor, and journalism professor, much of it in New York. He is currently a writer and press freedom advocate in Oklahoma. Lonnie was a deputy managing editor of Newsday, where he led coverage of several presidential campaigns, the second Iraq war, Sept. 11 and other major stories. He has taught journalism at CUNY and Columbia Journalism School.

National/World News with a Local Lens, Citywide First Place Winner:

Midwood High School,Alika Awan, Ciara Verneige and Tammy Chan,

“Secret Company Documents Reveal the Not-So-Perfect Side of Instagram.”

www.midwoodargus.com/blog/2022/1/8/secret-company-documents-reveal-the-not-so-perfect-side-of-instagram

A thoroughly researched story that skillfully weaves impactful and emotional student comments as they react to the disclosure that Instagram executives knew that the app was having a devastating impact on some teenagers who felt body shamed and bullied. The result was a memorable article that illustrates how the news caused students at Midwood to think about their usage of the app and to acknowledge their own negative experiences and feelings.

National/World News with a Local Lens, Citywide Second Place Winner:

The Laboratory School of Finance and Technology, The Eagle Express,

Ranyeli Rodriguez, “A Hurricane is Felt in Puerto Rico – And 1,600 Miles Away At HS223.”

hs223eagleexpress.com/640/news/hurricane-fiona/

An excellent job of bringing home the impact of a Hurricane in Puerto Rico to students at the school 1,600 miles away. The reporter packs the story with context about New York City’s large Puerto Rican population and how it responds to help relatives and others on the island where hurricanes have been frequent. The deft use of quotes and paragraphs to set up those quotes made the story flow narratively. And the kicker was the best of the group.

National/World News with a Local Lens, New Newspaper First Place Winner: The Laboratory School of Finance and Technology, see above under Citywide Second Place Winner in this category.

Remarks for the Category:

Each year the writing, layout and reporting gets exponentially better in these contest entries. The stories are well-researched and edited. The winners brought several key things to the table. One, their idea and approach was well thought out and specific. In short, they focused sharply. Second, there was a new twist to it, a fresh angle or perspective, and lastly, they were lavishly reported. The writers were able to write with authority that can be accomplished only through intimate knowledge of the subject.

One other observation: Several well-done submissions seemed out of place in this category—because they were editorials or infographics. Perhaps there should be categories for those as well.

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Opinion/Editorial

Judge: Robert A. George

Robert A. George is a member of the Bloomberg Opinion Editorial Board and previously served on the editorial boards of the New York Post and Daily News. He has been writing about New York and national issues for more than two decades. He was born in Trinidad and lived in the United Kingdom before moving to the United States. A 1986 graduate of St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, George worked for the Republican National Committee and, following the 1994 midterm elections, Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich. In addition to his newspaper work, George has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, Fox and other political affairs outlets. He’s written for the conservative National Review, libertarian Reason and progressive HuffPost. A cofounder of the political improv podcast Electoral Dysfunction, George is also a stand-up comic.

Opinion/Editorial, Citywide First Place Winner:

Townsend Harris High School, The Classic, “It Is Time For the DOE to Free All Student Newspapers From the Threat of Censorship,” by Janna Habibulla, Izegbuwa Adun, Elliot Heath, Kate Estevez, and Victoria Siebor.

thhsclassic.com/15538/opinion/editorial-it-is-time-for-the-doe-to-free-all-student-newspapers-from-the-threat-of-censorship/

The thoughtfulness that went into this editorial was quite impressive. In an era when a basic understanding of the rules of journalism is absent, a meditation on the importance of encouraging honest reporting without fear or favor and giving young journalists the freedom to pursue stories that might prove embarrassing to the powers that be is vitally important. The writers of this piece clearly understand the stakes and the responsibilities of their craft and why they and their peers should be given as much of a free hand and respect as any professional journalist. The editorial is passionately argued – appropriate given that the underlying issue ultimately involved student safety – but supported with persuasive examples of how student journalists can cover controversial topics, work with adult advisors (both inside and outside the school) without being interfered with due to potential institutional embarrassment. Most notably, it calls out a government agency – the Department of Education – and urges it to create a uniform objective standard for all student publications. In every sense, the editorial is timely, speaks truth to power and deserves the widest distribution.

Opinion/Editorial, Citywide Second Place Winner:

Manhattan Center For Science and Mathematics, The Ram-Page, “A Guide to Post-Pandemic Teen Mental Health,” by Nicole Manning.

mcsmrampage.com/2021/09/a-guide-to-post-pandemic-teen-mental-health/

A very well-reported opinion column on an important topic. The secondary effects of the pandemic arguably hit young people the hardest – between virtual learning, loss of interaction with friends and missing basic coming-of-age moments like prom and graduation. The long-term emotional impact will not be known for some time. Ms. Manning buttressed her personal perspective with multiple other viewpoints, including from other students, teachers and parents. The piece also includes recommendations from mental health and pediatric experts too. All told, the opinionated article (used in the very best sense of the term) fully captures the moment as well as the options available as schools and society at large struggle to address the challenges facing young people in this extraordinary time. Too often, the topic of mental health can pit various stakeholders – students, parents, teachers, professionals against one another. Ms. Manning persuasively argues that ideally, all should be working in concert. Her willingness to share her own experience with anxiety was particularly enlightening in that regard. All in all, an excellent written presentation.

Opinion/Editorial, Citywide Honorable Mention: Bard High School Early College Queens, Bard Broadside, “Cell Phone Policy,” by Maggie Chen,

bardbroadside.wixsite.com/bhsecq/post/cell-phone-policy-by-maggie-chen-24

Another timely piece on the intersection of technology and education. Bard High School Early College Queens has evidently adopted a strict policy governing cellphone use on school grounds. Ms. Chen explores what appears to be arbitrary enforcement of the policy – including confiscation of phones even after school has technically been out. Ms. Chen raises a number of legitimate points and includes several student perspectives at the conclusion. The piece could have done with at least one statement that reflected the administration’s perspective. That said, this is a well-argued column that reflects the legitimate tensions today’s elementary and high school students feel: On the one hand, schools feel the need to keep technological distractions (and cheating opportunities) out of the classroom; on the other hand, phones are vitally necessary as communication and safety tools for parents and students. Ms. Chen captures this conundrum well. She also underscores the irony inherent in a strict policy partly undermined by teachers emailing their students at times of the day when the students technically don’t have access to their phones: “The cell phone policy seems not to coincide with the increasing reliance on technology (by both students and faculty) in education.” Indeed. One hopes that BHSEC administrators read this and consider changes to the policy.

Opinion/Editorial, New Newspaper First Place Winner:

Bronx River High School, Bronx River News, “From nervous freshman to seniors ready to take on the world,” by Parmeshwar Singh, Lidia Gomez, Perry Williams Jr, Kristyn Brown, Oscar Diaz Cuadra and Bryan Garcia.

bronxrivernews.org/2022/03/from-nervous-freshman-to-seniors-ready-to-take-on-the-world/

A novel approach for an end-of-term editorial page: The board members of the Bronx River News reflect on their high school experiences. For high school students, four years is akin to a lifetime, when youngsters take the major steps and decisions that will inform the individuals they will be for the rest of their lives. Given that this cohort suffered through a 100-year pandemic, it was nice to see a couple observations on how Covid impacted them and how they responded to it. Staff writer Oscar Diaz Cuadra, for example, shared his brief transfer to a New Jersey school before deciding to switch back so he could, in a most poignant observation, “finish my senior year with the people I had grown with” (notably, not “grown up with). Given the diversity of perspectives and voices on the editorial staff, this was a smart experiment and enjoyable exercise. More student newspapers should encourage similar “career” reflective pieces – either from the editorial staff or solicited from the student body at large.

Opinion/Editorial, New Newspaper Second Place Winner:

Queens School of Inquiry, QSInquirer, “First plastic-free lunch day disappoints,” by Cai Racpan.

qsinquirer.com/718/uncategorized/first-plastic-free-lunch-day-was-a-disappointment/

With climate change and environmental policy taking up the attention of many in the younger generation, Cai Racpan offers a critical eye to the school’s recent plastic-free lunch day – particularly the disappointment stemming from the lack of takeup on the event. Racpan argues that there was not enough publicizing of the event outside of the expected environment and climate change communities. In the future, Racpan might take care on a topic like this to pay closer attention to hyphen placement given that “plastic-free” or “free-lunch” are easily confused phrases. But that’s a mild concern. Racpan’s central concern – that both students and administration should do more to publicize the occasion going forward. As the author notes, the downside of this being overlooked isn’t in just the missed day of observation; there is also the risk that more students, like Racpan, will grow more cynical that climate change will ever be seriously confronted.

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Photojournalism

Judge: Mehrunnisa Wani

Mehrunnisa Wani is a photojournalist and Assistant Professor of English. She is passionate about the coverage of marginalized communities, challenges faced by BIPOC communities, and social justice and solutions journalism. She has contributed to the History Channel, Chalkbeat, and Forbes.

Photojournalism, Citywide First Place Winner:

Columbia Secondary School, Image of the state of the school gym, by Dahlia Landry.

The photograph by Dahlia Landry is extraordinarily brilliant. The angle and composition of the photograph make the problem visible – amidst the tall piles of desks, the gymnasium is certainly not conducive to play. The student attempting to cull the ball from a precarious and dangerous stack also exemplifies how alarming a problem it is. This photograph illustrates the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. Truly, sometimes words alone can’t convey what is occurring in a story and this particular moment captured in this photograph transposes the reader to that scene.

Photojournalism, Citywide Second Place Winner:

Francis Lewis High School, Culinary Program photo by Sophia Park and Taylor Burke.

flhsnews.com/8524/showcase/culinary-program-serves-up-a-full-plate-of-experience/

The photographs affixed to the story covered all different angles. From the food, to behind the scenes, to the raw emotions, this encapsulated a full reportage of this culinary program. The diversification of shots – the shots ranged from wide shots, medium shots, point of view shots, to close-up shots – and the documentation of the process was praiseworthy. Remember to show the vastness of a scene and to provide readers with the full picture. It’s imperative to understand that a photo must capture the visual representation of the story so the photographs must be able to stand on their own.

Photojournalism, New Newspaper First Place Winner: Pace High School, Pacer NYC, “Season of the Track Stars” by Winifred Haastrup.

pacernyc.com/1123/sports/season-of-the-track-stars/#modal-photo

The shots comprehensively covered track season at Pace High School. Sports photography requires tons of equipment – mostly versatile telephoto and zoom lens that can focus on movement, and largely on the subject. With outdoor sports you want to ensure that you have the right exposure — and that may require playing around with camera settings. The camera angles were varied, and the light was just right!

Remarks for the Category:

Get close. Get raw. Focus on emotions, on the unusual, and on the details. Always take more shots than you think you will need and from different angles. You never know which shots you’ll need or end up using, and you may not have the opportunity to go back and redo it because of the nature of journalism. Plan your shots beforehand and examine what the best possible image is to complement that story. Remember to photograph people (and) in action – not just inanimate objects. Always think about how your photograph can supplement your story and think of new ways that you can photograph the topic responsibly. Photojournalism conveys narratives that are fraught with emotions and complexities so always be conscious of how you can compose a photograph to do justice to these topics!

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School/Community News

Judge: Jere Hester

School/Community News, Citywide and New Newspaper First Place Winner:

Pace High School, “Underfunded Library Remains Off-Limits Despite State Mandate,” Angel Mejia Ramirez, Pacer NYC.

pacernyc.com/936/news/library-remains-underfunded-and-unused-despite-state-mandate/

Why has a library that’s supposed to serve three schools been used as seemingly everything but a library for the last decade-plus? Angel Mejia Ramirez turned a good question into a great story that exposed a failure to serve students in defiance of a state mandate.

School/Community News, Citywide and New Newspaper Second Place Winner:

Bronx River High School, “Lehman Campus Crosswalk: Vehicles Race Through Red Lights on School Days,” Sara Singh and Elvia Serrano, with Arleth Vargas, Adriana Sadiku and Katie Ordaz, Bronx River News.

bronxrivernews.org/2022/06/lehman-campus-crosswalk-vehicles-race-through-red-lights-on-school-days/

The team at Bronx River News put their observations about traffic dangers lurking outside their school to the test, and found a very real danger to their community. Their work spurred a request (so far unfulfilled) from school officials for the installation of a red-light camera.

Remarks for the Category

The best stories in an overall strong field of entries show that asking questions inspired by lived experience, observation and talking to — and listening to — fellow community members can lead to meaningful local journalism.

Some general suggestions: Look for opportunities to include as many voices from the school community as possible. Be careful of letting editorializing creep into your stories: Your reporting is more powerful when you let it speak for itself. Uncovering things that are wrong — or going wrong — is a major part of any high-impact story, but make a point of seeking out people who might have solutions.

Overall, it’s heartening to see stories with a strong sense of service to the community. That’s what journalism is all about.

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Sports Writing

Judge: Randal Archibold

Randal C. Archibold is the sports editor of The New York Times. He joined the desk in July 2015, and helps coordinate and edit news and enterprise stories across a range of topics. Once in a while, he writes one, too. For five years, between 2010 and 2015, he was The Times’s bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, based in Mexico City. He wrote a lot about drugs but also social issues and once even about a soap opera. Before beginning his assignment there in August 2010, he was a national correspondent based in Los Angeles. He covered a large swath of the southwestern United States and wrote extensively on the border and immigration, including Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigration. He also did pieces on the lighter side, including the story of a fish in a desert. He joined the paper in 1998 as a reporter on the Metro staff and has written on a variety of subjects, including education and politics. He covered the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, writing a series on the residents of the damaged apartment building closest to the towers. His political reporting has included coverage of John Edwards’s 2004 presidential campaign and the 2005 New York City mayoral election. Before joining The New York Times, Mr. Archibold worked for five years at The Los Angeles Times as a reporter and editor and before that several places in California and New Jersey, many of which, sadly, no longer exist. Mr. Archibold graduated from Rutgers University and then spent several months studying history and Spanish in Panama, from which his parents immigrated. He considers himself a New Jerseyan living in exile in New York.

Sports Writing, Citywide First Place Winner:

Midwood High School, “Beyond the Finish Line: Life Lessons and Brotherhood in Outdoor Track,” by Lucas Paschke and Manuel Lozano-Velez.

www.midwoodargus.com/blog/2022/5/26/beyond-the-finish-line-life-lessons-and-brotherhood-in-outdoor-track

Sports Writing, Citywide Second Place Winner:

Stuyvesant High School, “The Real Cost of Stuyvasant Sports,” by John Jay Wang.

www.stuyspec.com/sports/sports-at-stuyvesant/the-real-cost-of-stuyvesant-sports

Comments:

This was really close but I would give the edge to Midwood for lively writing setting a nice scene and colorful description with plenty of voices. This quote in particular was excellent, “Running is physical pain that you have to fight through with your mind,” said junior Sajid Amin. “It requires a lot of commitment and dedication, as well as consistency.” Stuyvesant took on an important subject with a good combination of research and student voices.

Sports Writing, Citywide Honorable Mention:

Townsend Harris High School, “Boys Badminton Team defeats Stuyvesant to win PSAL Championship,” by Ryan Eng.

thhsclassic.com/15340/sport/boys-badminton-team-defeats-stuyvesant-to-win-psal-championship/

Sports Writing, Citywide Honorable Mention:

Francis Lewis High School, “FLHS Girls’ Sports Teams Surpass Boys’ Teams, by Marcellino Melika and Alejandro Miranda.

flhsnews.com/9847/sports/flhs-girls-sports-teams-surpass-boys-teams/

Sports Writing, New Newspaper First Place Winner:

Pace High School, Pacer NYC,

“Girls’ Basketball Team Dominated Their League this Season,” by Katelyn Seetaram.

pacernyc.com/962/sports/girls-basketball-team-dominated-their-league-in-2021-22/

Sports Writing, New Newspaper Second Place Winner:

Bronx River High School, Bronx River News, “Vollyball Team Pulls Off Major Upset,” by Elvia Serrano

and Sara Singh.

bronxrivernews.org/2022/10/volleyball-team-pulls-off-major-upset/

Comments:

The Pacer delivered an engaging story with a nice lede and important context on the impact of the pandemic. The quotes went beyond expression of joy to elaborating on the difficulty of the season and the journey. The story was a little heavy on adjectives but the effort and execution were solid. The Bronx River News was a strong second but needed more voices quoted. Still, it had some nice details such as the players’ fretting the game on the way over and their getting doughnuts the next day.

Overall for New Newspaper Sports Writing: These entries show a lot of promise for new newspapers, an exciting development. The game story can be important for the community, and I would love to see more profiles and pieces that break down how a team is winning/losing and why.

Remarks for the Sports Writing Category:

A strong performance. I was particularly impressed with the effort to take on weighty subjects like Title IX and to write features that stepped back a little from the action.

I would encourage the student journalists to go a little further behind the scenes. Who won or lost is important to note but so is helping the reader to understand how these developments occurred, either by analyzing the team’s or a player’s record over the season and interviewing the players and coaches about the journey, not just the result.

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Best Online Newspaper

Judge: Hasani Gittens

Hasani Gittens is a deputy editor for THE CITY. His priors include senior news editor for NBCNews.com and managing editor for NBCNewYork.com. He began his career as a copy kid at the New York Post and is a proud product of Baruch College’s newspaper, The Ticker, as well as the student magazine Dollars $ Sense.

Best Online Newspaper, Citywide First Place Winner:

Stuyvesant High School, The Spectator.

www.stuyspec.com/

Looking at The Spectator, the word that comes to mind is talent. The online newspaper is laid out very cleanly and the headlines pop like they were written by professionals. The stories are accompanied by photos and illustrations that could easily be in commercial publications. Looking deeper, the stories are very well written and cover a great array of topics relevant to students: The stress of school, the stress of finding community, the stress of being located next to an international terrorism event — and still sticking up for the life of the accused. The staff should relax and know they’ve done a fine job.

Best Online Newspaper, Citywide Second Place Winner:

Francis Lewis High School, Francis Lewis News.

flhsnews.com/

The Francis Lewis High School newspaper fulfills the number one job of a school paper: Give the student community information they need to better their lives. With a crisp design and clear headlines, their range of articles from cafeteria and building news, to community service and science fair pieces, to a story about bus service with a beautifully evocative lede, they are everything you like to see in a student publication.

Best Online Newspaper, New Newspaper First Place Winner:

Pace High School, Pacer NYC.

pacernyc.com/

The Pacer pops with great photos, a compelling layout and a heavy mix of stories about sports and school life. It’s evident that a lot of hard work is going on behind the scenes and as a nascent newspaper they are on track to being truly great one day. I am not sure though if the student body president should be on staff!

Best Online Newspaper, New Newspaper Second Place Winner:

Queens School of Inquiry, QSInquirer.

qsinquirer.com/

The QSInquirer has a sleek but sparse look and crisp writing that give it a classy appeal. The reporting is well done but seems to lean heavily on student opinion and quotes — which is the right way to be thinking about journalism. The voice of the people should be the loudest. Mixing in some deeper investigations in the future will make this a newspaper that’s tough to beat.

Remarks for the Category:

All of the publications in this competition and their staffs should be proud of themselves because each of them had merit and were producing some quality student journalism. I am heartened to see that the next generation of reporters and editors is on the right track to be even better than the last.

March 10, 2023 Baruch College High School Journalism Conference Agenda and Workshop Schedule

Conference Check-In: 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Gather in Plenary Room for croissants and mini-muffins and instructions. 9:30 a.m. to 10:05 a.m.

Workshop Schedule

Room 1. Photojournalism Essentials with Adi Talwar 10:10 a.m. until 11 a.m.

AND

Multimedia for Online Newspaper Reporting with Emily Johnson. 11:10 a.m. until Noon.

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Room 2. Feature Story Ideas Incubator with Indrani Sen. 10:10 a.m. until 11 a.m.

AND

Online Research and Information Verification for Journalists with Whitney Lee. 11:10 a.m. until Noon.

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Room 3. Effective Sports Reporting Q&A with Randal Archibold and Vera Haller. 10:10 a.m. until 11 a.m.

AND

Story Editing Strategies with Hasani Gittens. 11:10 a.m. until Noon.

—–

Room 4. Locating Quality Sources and Proven Interviewing Techniques with Rebecca Ungarino. 10:10 a.m. until 11 a.m.

AND

Google Tools For Journalists with Ashley Edwards. 11:10 a.m. until Noon.

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Room 5. Limiting Legal and Ethical Lapses with Ruth Hochberger. 10:10 a.m. until 11 a.m.

AND

Writing Compelling Ledes with Jere Hester. 11:10 a.m. until Noon.

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Room 6. Common Reporting Errors and How to Avoid Them with Gisele Regatao. 10:10 a.m. until 11 a.m.

AND

Advisors’ Optional Meeting facilitated by Deborah Porterfield. 11:10 a.m. until Noon.

LUNCH AND PLENARY SESSIONS

High School Journalists’ Press Conference with NYS Senator John Liu, where the students ask the questions, with an introduction by Provost Linda Essig. 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
Preparing For A Successful Journalism Career with Myles Miller. 1:40 p.m.-2:05 p.m.
Gearing Up For Your College Newspaper with Editors from Baruch College’s Independent Student Newspaper, The Ticker. 2:05 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
Baruch College’s Best in NYC Public High School Journalism “Newsies” Awards 2:30 p.m.-3 p.m.

Conference Presenter Bios

Randal C. Archibold is the sports editor of The New York Times. He joined the desk in July 2015, and helps coordinate and edit news and enterprise stories across a range of topics. Once in a while, he writes one, too. For five years, between 2010 and 2015, he was The Times’s bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, based in Mexico City. He wrote a lot about drugs but also social issues and once even [E1] [MOU2] [MOU3] [MOU4] a soap opera. Before beginning his assignment there in August 2010, he was a national correspondent based in Los Angeles. He covered a large swath of the southwestern United States and wrote extensively on the border and immigration, including Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigration. He also did pieces on the lighter side, including the story of a fish in a desert. He joined the paper in 1998 as a reporter on the Metro staff and has written on a variety of subjects, including education and politics. He covered the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, writing a series on the residents of the damaged apartment building closest to the towers. His political reporting has included coverage of John Edwards’s 2004 presidential campaign and the 2005 New York City mayoral election. Before joining The New York Times, Mr. Archibold worked for five years at The Los Angeles Times as a reporter and editor, and before that, several places in California and New Jersey, many of which, sadly, no longer exist. Mr. Archibold graduated from Rutgers University and then spent several months studying history and Spanish in Panama, from which his parents immigrated. He considers himself a New Jerseyan living in exile in New York.

Professor Geanne Belton (first name pronounced “Jean”), a Baruch College journalism professor and an attorney, directs Baruch College’s High School Journalism Program, including the annual NYC High School Journalism Conference and the Newsies Best in NYC Public High School Journalism Competition. Professor Belton’s study of NYC High School Newspaper Prevalence was published in November 2022 and has brought substantial attention to the dearth of student newspapers in NYC public high schools, particularly among schools with the highest poverty rates and lowest graduation rates. The research report, “Haves and Have Nots: Newspaper Prevalence Among NYC Public High Schools,” is available here: https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/hsjournalism/files/2022/11/Final-11-18-HS-Haves-Have-Nots-November-2022-Research-Report-1-3.pdf In her role as Director of Baruch College’s High School Journalism Program, Professor Belton designed and teaches a professional development certificate course for teachers to help high schools that don’t have student newspapers to launch newspapers. Professor Belton teaches media law and ethics and news literacy to Baruch College undergraduates. Her journalism has appeared in the New York Times, the National Law Journal, Columbia Journalism Review, Investor’s Business Daily, and many other newspapers, magazines and online publications under the byline Geanne Rosenberg. She was a faculty associate at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society and served as vice chair of the board of directors of the Student Press Law Center. Professor Belton has a B.A. from Bryn Mawr College, an M.S. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, and a J.D. from Columbia University’s School of Law, where she was named a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

Lara Bergen is the founder and director of Press Pass NYC, a nonprofit organization that helps New York City public schools start and sustain student newspaper programs. Before founding Press Pass NYC, Lara taught English and AP Literature at the Global Learning Collaborative High School in Manhattan, where her experience working with students to start that school’s first newspaper served as her inspiration. Lara has also had a long career on the children’s book side of publishing, as both an editor and author of over a hundred books for children and middle-grade readers. Lara is a JEA Certified Journalism Educator and has a Master’s in the Teaching of English from Columbia University’s Teachers College. She currently serves on the steering committees of the NYC Youth Journalism Coalition and the New York City Civics Coalition.

Judah Duke is in his sophomore year at Baruch College, majoring in journalism with a double minor in computer science and environmental sustainability. His high school didn’t have a student newspaper, but he was editor-in-chief of the school yearbook for three years. Now, he is a senior staff writer and copy editor for The Ticker. He also works as an auditor at the Marriott Hotel on East 24th Street.

Linda Essig, MFA, Ph.D., was appointed Baruch College’s Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs on July 1, 2021. She previously served as dean of the College of Arts & Letters at California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) where she was responsible for nine academic departments, four centers, and the Ronald H. Silverman Fine Arts Gallery. Prior to Cal State LA, Dr. Essig was director of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Programs for the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University (ASU) and founding director of its School of Theatre and Film. She also served as chair of the Department of Theatre & Drama and director of University Theatre at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Essig has authored four books, numerous articles and book chapters on both arts entrepreneurship and theatrical lighting design.

Emanuela Gallo is a senior at Macaulay Honors at Baruch College. She is double majoring in journalism and political science, and double minoring in New York City studies and Italian. She currently serves as the editor-in-chief of The Ticker, Baruch’s independent and student-run newspaper. In prior years, she acted as the newspaper’s news editor and undergraduate student government correspondent. Emanuela interned at Fox News in the spring of 2022, writing copy for clips of daytime political and business news. She has also been active in student life as an orientation leader, first-year seminar peer mentor, and co-president and director of mentorship for the Baruch Pre-Law Society. Emanuela was also the editor-in-chief of her high school newspaper and then continued her love for writing in college. She strongly encourages current high school journalists to do the same!

Ashley Alese Edwards is the U.S. Partnerships Manager at Google. She is passionate about diversity in news media and has promoted this through her involvement in media literacy and inclusion programs. Before Google, she worked as a journalist at Refinery29, Mic, the New York Daily News, and PIX11 News. She currently has her own blog, Aisle One, which is dedicated to natural hair and beauty.

Caryl Anne Francia is a senior at Baruch College and the business editor of The Ticker, the college’s independent student-run newspaper. She majors in journalism and creative writing and minors in Japanese. Francia attended the New York City High School Journalism Conference in 2018 as a senior at Francis Lewis High School, at which she was the co-editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper. She applauds the work done by all of this year’s attendees and congratulates the nominees for the “Newsies!” awards. She encourages students to discover what they are passionate about as they hone their writing skills beyond high school, as she did with The Ticker.

Vera Haller is a professor of Journalism at Baruch College and the current department chair. She is also an active freelance journalist, covering New York City as well as foreign stories for outlets including PRX’s The World, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and the Thomson-Reuters Foundation. Before joining Baruch, she worked as a reporter and editor at Newsday, Reuters and The Associated Press.

Jere Hester is the director of projects and partnerships at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. He most recently served as the founding editor-in-chief of The City, an award-winning nonprofit news site that serves New Yorkers through hard-hitting journalism. Prior roles include founding director of the award-winning NY City News Service, New York Daily News city editor, and editor of Downtown Express. His byline has appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, CNN, NBC News, and other outlets. Hester, the author of “Raising a Beatle Baby,” is a lifelong resident of Brooklyn.

Ruth Hochberger has had a rich and rewarding career as a journalist and a professor. A lawyer, she began her career as a criminal defense lawyer for The Legal Aid Society in Manhattan, and then found her true calling as a legal journalist, as the first feature reporter for The New York Law Journal, a daily newspaper for the legal community. She conceived, reported, and wrote profiles, analyses of legislation, and accounts of significant court decisions. She initiated and spearheaded a division for the Law Journal that published an array of monthly practical newsletters for attorneys, Leader Publications. Returning to the daily paper, she was named the first managing editor, and subsequently was named editor-in-chief, where she served for 12 years. Following her tenure at the Law Journal, she entered academia, where she taught a seminar at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism on “Covering Courts, Trials and the Justice System,” as well as “Media Ethics,” “Journalistic Inquiry,” and “Law and Mass Communications” to graduate and undergraduate students at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University. She joined the City University’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at its inception and designed and taught the required course in “Legal and Ethical Issues in Journalism,” as well as an elective in “Journalistic Judgment,” over 17 years. For three years, she taught a law course in “Media Law” at New York Law School. She was the editor-in-chief of her high school newspaper, in Bryn Mawr PA, and graduated from Barnard College and Boston College Law School, where she was on the Law Review.

Whitney Lee is currently the Helen Bernstein Librarian for Periodicals and E-Resources at the New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. In this role, she coordinates the selection and management of periodicals (newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals, zines, and small press publications) across research libraries and works to raise public awareness of this collection. Prior to her role at the NYPL, Whitney was a research specialist at NBC News, and before that, a reference associate at New York University’s Bobst Library. She has also held positions as a researcher for two New York newspapers, Newsday and the New York Daily News. In her various newsroom roles, she supported reporters, editors, and producers by running background checks, locating sources, verifying information, finding statistics on a range of topics, and more.

John C. Liu is a New York State Senator representing a broad area of northeast Queens. He is chairperson of the Senate’s committee on New York City Education and also serves on the committees of Education, Finance, Higher Education, Judiciary, Rules and Transportation. John was Comptroller of the City of New York (2010-2013) and a New York City Councilmember (2002-2009). In 2013, John was a candidate for Mayor of New York City, in lieu of running for re-election as Comptroller. Currently, John teaches municipal finance and public policy in Master’s programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and Columbia University. The 43rd Comptroller of New York City, John Liu established an impressive record as the chief financial officer for 8.4 million residents and overseeing municipal government with an annual budget of $70 billion. John saved taxpayers $5 billion through rigorous audits of City agencies, detailed scrutiny of contracts with private companies, and refinancing of $20 billion of outstanding City bond debt. During his four-year term of office, he achieved an enviable total investment return, increasing the City’s pension asset portfolio to $150 billion. John created the nationally acclaimed online application “CheckbookNYC.com” providing unprecedented transparency in government spending. He facilitated economic development and new job creation with acceleration of City capital projects, capturing low-interest rates in the bond markets. Always emphasizing that “it’s not just about numbers, it’s about people,” John Liu championed fairness and equality. An early and staunch opponent of stop-and-frisk tactics, John highlighted the risks to communities and taxpayers alike due to damaged police-community relations. John presented daily-updated M/WBE Report Cards for City agencies to monitor and encourage greater government contracting opportunities for minority entrepreneurs. John also proposed sound economic policies to create real economic growth and narrow the ever-widening wealth gap, protected wage standards and recouped back wages and fines on behalf of cheated workers from contractors who just don’t want to play by the rules, and exposed the billions of dollars in publicly-subsidized corporate welfare doled out by the City that failed to deliver on promised new jobs and fair housing. He published numerous reports analyzing and issuing recommendations on a wide range of public priorities, including education and the need to take students beyond high school, affordable housing and family support, retirement security and protection of pension benefits, and the fiscal and social benefits of legalizing marijuana. Hailed as a “Trailblazer” and “Pioneer,” John Liu’s historic elections – as the first Asian American to win legislative office in New York and then the first to win citywide office – were milestones for Asian Americans in New York and across the nation. Although he wishes Asian Americans had been elected long before, John is honored to be the first and embraces the opportunity to broaden representation and public service. Prior to being elected to office, John worked in the private sector for 14 years as a professional actuary, most recently as a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers. John has drawn upon his real-world fiscal expertise to root out waste and mismanagement in government.

Myles Miller is a duPont-Columbia, Edward R. Murrow and Emmy® Award-winning journalist who covers crime, the courts and general assignment news for WNBC-TV. He joined NBC’s flagship station in October 2019. Miller was a key component of NBC 4 New York’s award-winning COVID-19 coverage, honored in January, 2021 with the prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for “creat(ing) a 360 view in real time of the coronavirus pandemic, with courageous and thorough reporting on the virus’s explosion in New York City.” The duPont has long been recognized as the broadcast, documentary and online equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, also awarded by Columbia University. Prior to joining NBC 4 New York, Miller served as deputy press secretary at the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) and as a senior advisor to the Fire Commissioner. Miller’s prior television reporting experience includes three years spent at NY1 and Spectrum Networks where he served as chief investigative reporter from 2017-2019 and earned a New York Emmy® in 2018. From 2015-2017, he worked as a law enforcement reporter at WPIX-TV, where he was part of the team that won the 2017 Emmy® Award for Best Morning Newscast. He has also worked as a correspondent for WCBS Newsradio 880 AM, where he was part of the team that won a 2017 Edward R. Murrow Award for “Overall Excellence”. He has covered major Tri-State stories throughout this time, including the Chelsea terrorist bombing, the inauguration of President Donald Trump, the mass shooting at Bronx Lebanon Hospital and the deadly West Side terror attack. Additionally, Miller has worked as a national correspondent at Reuters, covering the mid-Atlantic states and as the digital director at HOT97, where he oversaw their growth as a digital leader in local radio. He was also a White House correspondent for The Daily, where he traveled across the country with President Barack Obama, covering landmark stories including the death of Osama bin Laden, the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act and the 2012 presidential campaign. Miller started his career at the New York Daily News, in middle school, where as a part of a summer program and later as an intern, he covered city politics and government for their suburban newspapers, Bronx Boro, Queens and Brooklyn News. Throughout his career in journalism, his writing has also been featured in the New York Post, FOXNews.com, The Daily Caller and Women’s Wear Daily. He is a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, the National Association of Black Journalists, the New York Press Club and the National Forensics League.

Deborah Porterfield is the advisor for the Bronx River News, a high school paper that she helped launch last year. She also teaches U.S. History and oversees the special education department at Bronx River High School. Before becoming a teacher, she worked as an editor and writer at various regional and national outlets, including USA Today and Nickelodeon.

Gisele Regatão teaches journalism and podcasting at Baruch College and she is a former executive producer and editor for the public radio stations WNYC and KCRW. In the past year, she has reported on many issues, including Venezuelan migrants in New York and the avocado boom in Peru for the national public radio show The World. She has also produced and directed the fiction podcast series “a hit dog will holler” for the podcast network Radiotopia. Some of her previous pieces include a long investigative piece on a fake art scheme for the national public radio show Reveal, two in-depth pieces on why campaigns fail to get Latinos to vote for the national public radio show Latino USA, and a story on why accents are a taboo in broadcast media for Columbia Journalism Review.

Indrani Sen is a senior features editor at Fortune. Previously, she was the culture editor at The New York Times Opinion section; an editorial director at Medium; and Quartz’s culture and lifestyle editor. She started her journalism career in local newspapers in Massachusetts, including her local newspaper, The Cambridge Chronicle, and The Bay State Banner, a newspaper that covers Boston’s Black and Latino communities. She was a reporter at Newsday, covering politics, planning, crime, and breaking news; and then a freelance food writer. As a journalism teacher, Indrani was a longtime adjunct professor at the City University of New York’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. At CUNY she edited Voices of New York, a publication showcasing the best work from the city’s immigrant press, and she co-edited a New York Times hyperlocal news blog focused on Fort Greene, Brooklyn, with a staff of student journalists and community contributors. She also taught journalism to high school and middle school students at the Bronx Academy of Letters.

Adi Talwar is a New York City-based photojournalist with a background in design, engineering and art. For over a decade, Adi’s photography has centered around civic issues, communities and individuals. He is a regular contributor to CityLimits.org. Adi has also been published in the Norwood News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, WNYC, MetroFocus, and Gothamist, to name a few. Over the years, Adi has participated in solo and group exhibitions. Adi was a BRIO (Bronx Recognizes its Own) recipient in 2020 and has received various awards for his photojournalism work.

Newsies Best in NYC Public High School Journalism Judges’ Bios

Lonnie Isabel has been a reporter, editor, and journalism professor, much of it in New York. He is currently a writer and press freedom advocate in Oklahoma. Lonnie was a deputy managing editor of Newsday, where he led coverage of several presidential campaigns, the second Iraq war, Sept. 11 and other major stories. He has taught journalism at CUNY and Columbia Journalism School.

Conference Assistants’ Bios (as provided by each assistant in their own words.)

Cesar R. Bustamante Jr. is a Filipino from Queens and a board member of the Deadline Club, the NYC Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists. He was a former media monitoring manager at South West News Service’s 72Point Inc. Prior to that, he was at the New York Daily News for three years, moving up the ranks of part-time producer to digital content editor. CUNY J-School alum, comic book nerd and journalism proponent, he was once told that he “exude(s) geeky competence” and has been adding that in his bios ever since.

Emanuela Gallo is a senior at Macaulay Honors at Baruch College. She is double majoring in journalism and political science, and minoring in New York City studies and Italian. She currently serves as the editor-in-chief of The Ticker, Baruch’s independent and student-run newspaper. In prior years, she acted as the newspaper’s news editor and undergraduate student government correspondent. Emanuela interned at Fox News in the spring of 2022, writing copy for clips of daytime political and business news. She has also been active in student life as an orientation leader, first-year seminar peer mentor, and co-president and director of mentorship for the Baruch Pre-Law Society. Emanuela was also the editor-in-chief of her high school newspaper and then continued her love for writing in college. She strongly encourages current high school journalists to do the same!

Atifah Osmani is a junior majoring in Political Science and double minoring in Philosophy and Marketing at Baruch College. She is on the Pre-Law track and has been involved in extracurriculars to further her legal aspirations as an IDEAL Scholar at Fordham Law School and Deputy Field Organizer for former Congresswoman Maloney. Additionally, Atifah is a proud Bengali-American who looks to embrace inclusivity and culture as Vice President of Baruch’s Bangladesh Student Association and former Co-Marketing Chair of Baruch’s Our Body in All Sizes.

Amy Pulster, 21, is currently a junior at Baruch College. She majors in Graphic Communication, and minors in New Media Arts. She is born and raised in Manhattan in New York City, and currently lives there with her parents and three siblings. She enjoys graphic design, video editing, reading, spending time with friends, and trying out new places to eat. She has begun her career in her school clubs. She is the VP of Graphics for UNICEF at Baruch and is the TikTok video editor for the Ticker.

Gabriel Rivera is a senior at Baruch College, double majoring in journalism and political science. He’s the Copy Chief and former Science & Technology Editor for Baruch’s independent, student-run newspaper, The Ticker. He’s also written for other publications such as Baruch magazine Dollars & Sense, The Bond Buyer and DC Report.

Emily Sauchelli is a Master’s student at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, CUNY, in Manhattan. She is studying health and science reporting and visual journalism. She is a part-time program assistant for Baruch College’s High School Journalism program and enjoys bringing awareness about this program to NYC high schools. In addition to being a reporter one day, she hopes to interweave journalism education and activism into her career.

Kamilla Sharipova is a senior at Baruch College studying Computer Information Systems – Data Analytics & a minor in Mathematics. She is the Photography Editor of The Ticker, the Baruch College school newspaper. She is a self-taught photographer, practicing it as a hobby and more recently starting to take classes and practicing it professionally. You can find some of her work at the following link: https://www.instagram.com/fotograph.junkie/

Jessica Taft is a recent graduate of the Macaulay Honors College at Baruch. Since graduating Magna Cum Laude and receiving BBA in Finance with a double minor in Journalism and the Interdisciplinary Study of New York in December 2022, she has been studying for the LSAT exam. As an aspiring attorney, Jessica is interested in pursuing a career in Public Policy and Legislation, having gained experience in the public sector through internships with her most recent position as an Immigration Affairs intern at Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer’s office. Her hobbies include tutoring students grades K-12 in the core subjects and Spanish, painting, and kick boxing.

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Posted Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023

We look forward to welcoming New York City Public High School Student Journalists and Newspaper Advisors to Baruch College’s 2023 High School Journalism Conference. The Conference will feature journalism skills workshops and a plenary press conference.

Thanks to the Baruch College High School Journalism Program’s partnership with the Google News Initiative, and additional grant support from the Charles H. Revson Foundation, the David and Katherine Moore Family Foundation, and the Harnisch Foundation, Baruch College’s High School Journalism Program is able to to offer this event free of charge. Continental breakfast and a sit-down lunch are included.

Registration spaces are filling up quickly and we are almost fully booked. For further information, please contact Prof. Geanne Belton: geanne.belton@baruch.cuny.edu

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Posted Wednesday, January 4, 2023

We are pleased to be accepting submissions for 2023’s New York City high school newspaper awards – The Newsies! The competition – which is free of charge – is open to all NYC public high schools.

The entry deadline is January 31, 2023.

Submission instructions are available here:

Submission Guidelines For 2024 Baruch College NYC High School Newspaper Awards (The Newsies!)

We very much look forward to seeing and acknowledging the outstanding journalism being produced within New York City’s public high school communities. We welcome entries from new NYC public high school newspapers as well as school newspapers that were in existence prior to 2020.

Winners will be announced during Baruch College’s March 10, 2023 NYC Public High School Journalism Conference at Baruch College.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2023! — Professor Geanne Belton

Posted Thursday, September 15, 2022

We are thrilled to be moving back to an in-person format for Baruch College’s Annual NYC Public High School Journalism Conference!

Please save the date: Friday, March 10, 2023.

Our conference will be held at Baruch College, in Midtown Manhattan, in our William and Anita Newman Vertical Campus Conference Center, from 10 a.m. until 2:45 p.m. on March 10, 2023. The event will include journalism workshops, a plenary press conference, and the Baruch College Best in NYC Public High School Newsies Awards.

The event is free of charge for registered attendees and coffee and lunch will be provided, thanks to the Baruch College High School Journalism Program’s partnership with the Google News Initiative and additional funding from the David and Katherine Moore Family Foundation.

NYC public high schools that have school newspapers are invited to bring delegations consisting of eight people per school, including one teacher or school administrator and seven 9th, 10th and 11th graders per school. Registration will open in early 2023.

Baruch College Newsies Awards January 31, 2023 Entry Deadline

We are moving to a calendar year format for Baruch College’s annual best in NYC public high school journalism competition, the Newsies Awards.

This year, as we make that transition, we will consider work produced and published in NYC public high school newspapers from September 2, 2021 through December 2022. Winners will be announced at Baruch College’s March 10, 2023 conference.

This year, in addition to award certificates, thanks to funding from the Charles H. Revson Foundation, we will be providing monetary honoraria to teacher-advisors whose school entries win first and second place Newsies awards to use in support of their high school newspapers and to incentivize and encourage school newspaper student journalists with staff parties, newspaper supplies, meeting snacks, etc.

We also are creating a new, separate division for new NYC public high school newspapers created and launched after 2020.

Categories for Baruch College’s best in NYC public high school journalism Newsies awards include best online newspaper, feature writing, illustration/comics/political cartoon, multimedia news reporting, national/world news with a local lens, opinion/editorial writing, photojournalism, school news, and sports writing.

In future years, we will be on a calendar year schedule for Newsies entries, so eligible entries for the 2024 competition will have been published between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023.

Register for the Spring 2023 “Launching a High School Newspaper” Online Certificate Course

Posted Friday, June 24, 2022

Registration is now open for the fully online, five-session Baruch College Launching a High School Newspaper CTLE certificate course. This course is for NYC public high school teachers who would like to start new high school newspapers in high schools that do not have newspapers. The course, which runs on Monday afternoons from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., is offered free of charge to NYC public high school teachers who have the support of their high schools to launch new student newspapers in 2022-23.

Please see https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/hsjournalism/starting-a-high-school-newspaper-for-teacher-advisors/ for more details.

Please sign up here if you’re a NYC public high school teacher interested in launching a NYC high school newspaper:

Contact Form

Baruch College's High School Journalism Program

2024 Baruch College High School Journalism Program Newsies! Best in NYC Public High School Journalism Winners!

Below are the categories for which we will be accepting submissions. Urls for the links to the Google Forms for you to use for each category’s submissions will be posted in December.

The 2023 Baruch College High School Journalism Program’s Best In NYC Public High School Journalism Newsies! Winners (with Winning Submission URL’s and Judges’ Bios & Comments)

March 10, 2023 Baruch College High School Journalism Conference Agenda and Workshop Schedule

This year, as we make that transition, we will consider work produced and published in NYC public high school newspapers from September 2, 2021 through December 2022. Winners will be announced at Baruch College’s March 10, 2023 conference.

Register for the Spring 2023 “Launching a High School Newspaper” Online Certificate Course

For further information, please contact Professor Geanne Belton at geanne.belton@baruch.cuny.edu.

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