Journalism: Awards and Achievements

Two SOC alumnae have become the newest personality and politics columnists for the Washington Examiner. Nikki Schwab, and Tara Palmeri, are taking over one of the newspaper’s signature features: “Yeas & Nays,” a column that covers local D.C. events and inside information on celebrities and politics. The two columnists have taken different paths to their positions; Schwab received her MA in Communication in 2009, and Palmeri graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Public Communication in 2008. Read an interview with Palmeri here.

J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism, an academic center at AU that fosters new forms of journalism, has announced the winners of its New Media Women Entrepreneurs Competition. Three entrepreneurial news ideas including franchises for community news sites, a food policy and strategies start-up and a health Web site for women each won $10,000 to launch their projects.

David Johnson's blog, Twitter Vote Report, took second place in the "Creative" category at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications 2009 Web Competition.

Caroline Stetler, an AU journalism graduate student and staff writer for SOC's Investigative Reporting Workshop, spearheaded the Workshop's latest report on the increase of thyroid cancer. The report was picked up by WABC TV in New York City. Watch video

Six SOC students were inducted into Kappa Tau Alpha, the honor society encouraging high academic achievement in journalism and mass communication.

Elizabeth Royall will present her research into news coverage and reconstruction of Afghanistan at the 23rd National Conference on Undergraduate Research in LaCrosse, WI. Her research is drawn from her honors capstone project, which she completed under the supervision of Joseph Campell. Elizabeth was also one of five recipients of the AU Honors Scholars Award.

Tony Romm earned a Washington Post byline. Read his article: "Government Jobs Generate Interest Among College Seniors"

The following graduate students have been awarded SOC's named fellowships: Kristin McGrath (BA, Washington University in St. Louis), USA Today;  Claritza Jimenez (BA, George Washington University) and Naseem Miller (BS, University of Central Florida), Center for Public Integrity;  Andrew Medici (BA, University of Pittsburgh), Bureau of National Affairs.
Read more

SOC students netted a record three of five awards from the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation (SDX) to area students. Seniors James Phillips and Abigail Wihl and junior Dorothy Samuels each received $4,000 from the Foundation.

Bill Gentile’s film Nurses Needed was named the most popular show airing on the PBS program NOW in 2008. PBS has submitted the documentary for consideration in the Outstanding Feature Story category of the News and Documentary Emmy Awards. PBS has also submitted Gentile’s documentary Afghanistan: The Forgotten War for consideration in the Outstanding Continuous Coverage of a Major News Story category. Gentile is also getting a lot of media attention, including a profile in Quill and an article in Variety.

John Shiffman, who recieved an MA in journalism and a JD from AU, was nominated along with his colleagues at the Philidelphia Inquirer for the Pulitzer Prize for their extensive reports on environmental policy.

Cristina Fernandez-Pereda, MA '08, got an exclusive story and photos about Twitter for the online magazine Soitu, making it the first Spanish news outlet to cover Twitter on site in its San Francisco offices. Read Cristina's success story.

Maria Papadopoulos, MA '01, has been named Journalist of the Year by the New England Press Association. Maria, a reporter at The Enterprise in Brockton, Mass., also took home the top awards for video and religion reporting at the annual awards dinner. The judges hailed her “impressive versatility in both subject matter and medium.”

Nate Beeler, ’02, received the 2008 Clifford K Berryman and James T. Berryman Award for Editorial Cartooning.

Keosha Johnson, '08, kicked-off her career as fellow of NBC’s News Associates program.

David Gregory (left), SIS/BA '92, has been tapped as the new moderator of Meet the Press, where he will join executive producer Betsy Fischer, SOC/MA '96, whose contract has been renewed by NBC.

Dan Lothian, MA ’88, has been named White House correspondent for CNN based in the network's Washington, D.C., bureau.

During the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Marukh Inayet, MA '03, reported live from the Taj Hotel for some 62 hours while the siege raged. Media critics praised her work, and Time published a photo of Inayet (left) on its website.

Medal of Honor, a documentary co-produced by Pat Butler, MA '96, Ken Burns and Roger Sherman is airing on PBS stations across the country this month.