And our 2011 scholarship winners are ...

Student journalists from Prospect, Evanston Township and Rolling Meadows high schools were honored by NINA in the 14th annual Northern Illinois High School Journalist of the Year Scholarship competition.

A total of $2,050 in scholarships was awarded, including $1,800 from NINA and $250 from The Daily Herald.

The annual scholarship competition is open to graduating high school seniors in northern Illinois. NINA presents the scholarships to high school students who demonstrate the standards of honesty, integrity, attention to detail, hard work, creativity and an understanding and commitment to quality journalism.

Applicants submit an autobiographical essay, letters of recommendation and a portfolio of their work.

John Etheredge, NINA scholarship coordinator, said the association has received nearly 500 applications for scholarships since the association first offered a single scholarship award in 1998.

“Each year our judges enjoy examining the students’ portfolios and, as in prior years, they were impressed with the high quality of the students’ work and their passion to pursue careers in journalism,” Etheredge said. “Our judges found it extremely difficult to select the top three portfolios for this year’s scholarship awards.”

NINA and its member papers have awarded a total of $20,500 in scholarships since 1998.

Despite the economic downturn, the NINA Board voted earlier this year to increase its annual contribution to this year’s scholarship program by $300. Revenues for the scholarship program come from NINA member dues and proceeds from NINA training seminars and programs.

“I would like to thank my colleagues on the NINA Board for their increased support for this year’s scholarship program and to The Daily Herald for its continuing support and assistance,” Etheredge said.

And the winners are ...


First place: Gina O’Neill, Prospect High School

O’Neill has been a member of the staff at Prospect High School’s “Prospector” newspaper for the past three years. She served as editor of the paper’s Opinion section her junior year and this year as copy editor.

In selecting O’Neill for the top scholarship award, NINA judges were impressed with her concise and compelling writing on a broad range of difficult and, at times, controversial topics, including teen suicide, student drug use and the separation of church and state.

O’Neill’s skill as a copy editor was also evident to NINA judges who took note of the high quality of The Prospector.

In a letter of recommendation, Jason Block, O’Neill’s journalism instructor, noted that O’Neill has “contributed in every way possible” to the Prospector over the past three years.

Block wrote of O’Neill: “In addition to being a gifted writer who is willing to take risks, Gina is also a gifted leader who is willing to do anything to help those working under her succeed. She is one of the most patient editors I have ever been around, spending countless hours walking a younger staff member through a story in order to get that story up to Gina’s very high standards.”

Block added: “Gina has not allowed all of her responsibilities as copy editor to distract her from writing amazing stories of her own. She tackles large topics like drug use at our school and traffic issues, and handles them with a maturity rare for a high school journalist. And she manages all of this while also holding a demanding part-time job, never allowing her grades to slip in the process.”

“I’ve grown to love reporting, editing and even layout just as much as the writing,” O’Neill wrote in her autobiographical essay. “I’ve learned to respect what reporting stands for; I’ve seen how stories can not only inform others but affect their lives as well. When I wrote a story about drug usage in school, it did not spark controversy with the administration. Rather, people respect how well we informed the school of this issue. After writing a story on teen suicide, several teachers showed me their appreciation for bringing that topic to light. I’ve seen how thankful and touched the wife of a late Marine was after we ran a story of his passing and what being a member of a military family entails. That’s why I want to purse a career in journalism.”

O’Neill noted that The Prospector transitioned to the web last year while retaining its print edition.

“As copy editor I had to learn to break out of the normal, three-draft routine of editing in order to work with writers efficiently for online stories.”

Describing herself as The Prospector’s “resident grammar diva,” O’Neill said, “I have learned so much about AP style and editing in general, and I know how to pace myself and focus when reading 24 stories an issue, three times each.”

O’Neill plans to major in journalism with an emphasis on print and online reporting at either DePaul University or Northwestern University. She received a total scholarship award of $1,200: $1,000 from NINA and $200 from The Daily Herald.


Second place: Meredith Newman, Evanston Township High School

In selecting Newman for a second place scholarship award, NINA judges took notice of her excellent writing and eye for detail as shown in her work as an executive editor for her school’s student paper, The Evanstonian.

Newman has been on the newspaper’s staff the past three years, excelling as a news reporter and editor.

Judges were also impressed with feature stories Newman has written for her hometown paper, The Evanston RoundTable.

Rodney Lowe, a journalism instructor for almost 30 years and faculty adviser to The Evanstonian, said Newman’s “continuous, tireless” work ethic alone warrants a scholarship award.

In a letter of recommendation, Lowe wrote of Newman: “She is committed, hardworking and compassionate. Moreover, Meredith is conscientious and tenacious. You should know that she has set some lofty goals for herself and these goals, in my professional opinion, are in reach.”

In her autobiographic essay, Newman said she was inspired to pursue a career in journalism partly because of the influence of Lowe and a feature story she wrote early in her high school journalism career on a classmate, Kelly Chong. Kelly’s mother died when she was 3 years old and Kelly has since lived in 15 different foster homes.

Newman wrote, “While writing Kelly’s story, I realized that if I became a journalist, I would be able to share important stores like Kelly’s with others…A career in journalism will allow me to write people’s untold stories.

Newman received a $500 scholarship from NINA. She will attend Syracuse University this fall.


Third place: Alexandria Johnson, Rolling Meadows High School

NINA judges picked Johnson for a third-place scholarship based on the high quality of her work for The Pacer, the student newspaper at Rolling Meadows High School.

“Accomplished” is the word one NINA judge used to describe Johnson’s work, while another said her passion for journalism was clearly evident in her portfolio.

In recommending Johnson for a scholarship Stan Zoller, a journalism instructor and Pacer adviser, wrote: “It’s not unusual for a scholastic journalist to excel at design or editing. It’s also not unusual for a high school journalist to be the proverbial editorial leader or outstanding writer. What sets Alexandria apart is that she is exemplary in all of the aforementioned areas and more.”

Zoller added: “As I reflect on Alexandria’s four years in journalism…it is clear that her passion, leadership, motivation and quest for excellence is unsurpassed.”

In her autobiographical essay, Johnson said she has worked to create an improved standard of journalism at Rolling Meadows High School.

“There is nothing I would rather dedicate my life to; journalism makes me feel powerful, confident and important,” she wrote. “To have the opportunity to work on a prominent newspaper and share my words and my voice with millions would be one of the great honors to be accomplished.”

Johnson will continue her journalism education at Northwestern University this fall. She received a total scholarship award of $350: $300 from NINA and $50 from The Daily Herald.

The stories we're missing

On a recent trip to Lebanon, a friend and I got to spend time in Bourj Hammoud – a crowded, lower-class community bordering Beirut.

It’s a true melting-pot neighborhood. Armenians, Egyptians, Syrians and Kurds – many undocumented – live in concrete, high-rise apartments, above a cacophony of markets, small shops and traffic spewing diesel fumes.

 

About 60 people packed into a tiny storefront for Sunday-evening church. Afterwards, as journalists, we could interview anyone we wanted (with the aid of interpreters). Every person in the room, it seemed, had a compelling story. We ended up writing about:

• A Syrian music-store owner who fled to Lebanon rather than face continued government oppression over the kinds of CDs he was selling;
• A Lebanese man who left a lucrative business career in Abu Dhabi to come live in Bourj Hammoud and train to be a pastor;
• And a Sudanese pastor who watched his brother be murdered for his Christian faith, and who now lives and ministers among the people who killed him.

Every person has a story, and those stories are worth telling. Good journalism schools have emphasized that maxim for generations. For all of these people, this was the first time their stories had ever been written. That’s as true in my own neighborhood as it is in a place like Bourj Hammoud. Yet, as an industry we’re missing them.

  

As newsrooms have shrunk, the must-cover beats – government, cops/courts and, to some extent, business – have crowded out all else. Newspapers still have features, but they’re usually confined to the Lifestyles or Entertainment pages and the reporting is necessarily shallow. Time and competing demands don’t allow for anything more.

 

Walt Harrington opened his wonderful 1997 textbook, “Intimate Journalism,” with this quote from historian Will Durant:

 

“Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record; while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry and even whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks.”

 
Newspapers today are still doing a decent job of covering the stream. We’re doing a lousy job of covering the banks. As we search our industry’s soul for areas where we can continue to excel – and that readers can’t get anywhere else – we ignore great feature writing at our peril.

 

Harrington wrote:

“The stories of everyday life – about the behavior, motives, feelings, faiths, attitudes, grievances, hopes, fears and accomplishments of people as they seek meaning and purpose in their lives, stories that are windows on our universal human struggle – should be at the soul of every good newspaper.”

  
As our industry collectively neglects these great stories, another problem arises: We are forgetting how to write them. A generation of new reporters can deliver a live story from a press conference with a series of Tweets, but has never written a compelling, 30-inch feature story.

  

The formula is simple. Jon Franklin outlined it in “Writing For Story”: “A story consists of a sequence of actions that occur when a sympathetic character encounters a complicating situation that he confronts and solves.”

  

Simpler yet: Characters. Conflict. Resolution. Redemption. That’s every good novel, every good TV drama, every good movie. Fellow journalists: We can do this. We need to do this.

  

At a Rockford coffee shop the other day, a guy named Ray struck up a conversation with me. A former master machinist in a town where those are almost extinct, he’s looking for full-time employment. He fills his days by fixing cars and computers for friends, doing odd jobs and hanging out at the coffee shop. There, he talks with staffers and customers about everything from theology to martial arts. And he surfs the web on his laptop, watching videos about ancient astronauts and intelligent life on Mars.

 

Shadowing someone like Ray for a day or two would produce a wonderful feature story. He is a face of the Rust Belt: a brilliant, supremely talented technician whose skills are no longer valued in the town where he’s lived his whole life. So, for now, he’s constructed a life that pays the bills, he cares about people and he’s a central character in this neighborhood. Yet, he’s the kind of guy that a passerby would dismiss without a second thought.

 

He’s also the kind of guy that newspapers don’t have time to write about anymore.

 

So, here’s my plea to reporters: Develop an eye for stories like this. Write one per month. Here’s my plea to editors: Let them. Carve time, even if it means missing a government meeting once in a while. And then devote serious space for these stories.

 

Reporters and editors: This will stoke creativity that you forgot you had. You’ll remember a big reason you got into this business. And your readers will remember, or discover anew, the value of a great newspaper.

 

2011 NINA contest

Information about NINA's annual competition -- including rules, entry forms and a link to submit entries online -- is now posted to our website, http://www.ninaonline.org/. Entry deadline is June 30.

We'll be sending the same information by mail to members in the next week.

Good luck!

High school photojournalism winners

Here are the winning images shot by high school photojournalists Saturday during the IHSA Journalism Sectional held at NIU. Students turned in their best three images, captured that morning on campus. These three students qualified for this Friday's state competition in Charleston.

Full sectional results can be found at the IHSA site.

First place: Jordan Geigle, Huntley

Howard Eckdahl, a grad student, prepares for a concert. He is finishing an afternoon rehearsal with the concert choir. They concert will be held, along with this rehearsal, in the Music Building.

Katie Mccarcy (front) and her friend BriAnna Bedi laugh as a gust of wind blows their hair. Leaning along the bridge outside of the library, they take pictures of geese below in the water. They spent the afternoon wandering the campus until the carnival starts at 1 p.m.

Andrew Reeves studies in a quiet corner of the library. He is taking his last chance this afternoon to review before his final on Monday. Reeves is studying Electrical Engineering.

Second place: Chelsea Hearyman, Stillman Valley

Using all their strength, one of the fraternity groups from NIU tries to pull their opponent to their side. The fraternities participate in an annual "tug" war every spring. The tug grounds were located next to the Huskie Stadium.

In the awakening of spring, an ambitious squirrel munches on its leftover stock from the winter. It was April 30th, and the signs of spring were becoming more apparent on the NIU campus. The squirrel was resting in a tree near the Visitors Center.

On the last Saturday of April, students wander out of the library and venture around the campus. The Holmes Student Center is located across from the library. Students like to go to the center to eat lunch with their friends.

Third place: Amon Rizvi, Bartlett

Motorcycle instructor, David Gordan, teaches and conducts NIU students about motorcycle safety through his driving obstacle course on April 30, behind the convocation center.

Jyne Bruce works on her Chicago bears laptop while she sells sports merchandise during DeKalb County’s largest garage sale, the Convo’s Colossal Clean Sweep on April 30, in the Convocation center. Bruce has been a bears fan since she was a young girl and has been selling sports merchandise for over a year.

NIU’s tugs team stretches before their final competition on April 30, outside of Huskie Stadium. Tugs has been around since the 1960s and is competed in mud filled trenches.