Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Two School of Journalism students have been recognized nationally for their in-depth writing by the Hearst Journalism Awards Program.
Matt Erickson and Megan Hirt placed first and second, respectively, in Hearst’s in-depth writing competition. Their combined scores were high enough to put the University in first place so far in the overall intercollegiate competition, said Jan Watten, Hearst Journalism Awards program director.
Matt Erickson's story "Facing the Music," won first place in the Hearst depth reporting category.
Megan Hirt's story, "A Sobering Struggle," won second place in the Hearst depth reporting category.
“I think KU has one of the best schools in the country,” Watten said. “They’ve entered and won many competitions and they have a long-running history of winning and doing very well in our program. It’s a great school.”
Erickson, Olathe senior, won the competition for “Facing the Music,” a piece about University students who were sued by the recording industry for illegally downloading music and file-sharing while on campus. The piece details how University officials waited nearly six months after being subpoenaed to tell students about the issue. The students paid $4,000 each, though they could have paid $3,000 if University officials had informed them sooner.
“I don’t know if I feel deserving, but I definitely feel pretty pumped and excited,” Erickson said. “This is a humbling experience, and I’m very thankful.”
Erickson won $2,000 and will travel to San Francisco in June to participate in another writing competition hosted by Hearst. He credited the School of Journalism, The University Daily Kansan and his in-depth reporting professor, Ted Frederickson, for his success.
“I think the biggest thing this reflects is that we work for one of the best, if not the best, student newspapers in the country,” Erickson said. “It reflects on The Kansan and the J-School, because both institutions have such a standard of excellence in reporting and writing.”
Frederickson could submit only two entries to the competition, and he chose Erickson’s piece and “A Sobering Struggle,” a story Hirt wrote about University students’ and alumni’s battles with alcoholism. The two entries swept the national competition. Hirt, a 2008 graduate from Topeka, said she gave the credit for her second-place piece not to herself but to her sources.
“I was just telling stories that were told to me,” she said. “It’s a great honor that these people could open up to me and tell me something so personal. It was more the work they did — it was their courage that made it what it was.”
Ann Brill, dean of the School of Journalism, said Erickson’s and Hirt’s recognition was well-deserved.
“Matt and Megan have done an outstanding job,” Brill said. “To take first and second place is quite thrilling. It is well-deserved on their part. They are talented journalists.”
Hirt, now an editorial intern at Mother Earth News magazine, said the recognition was just a bonus for getting the opportunity to report on in-depth stories.
“You can only be pushed so much by teachers,” she said. “It’s up to you to go out and find the story, to make it happen. We’ve been bitten by the journalism bug, and we like what we do. Any award is just the icing on the cake.”
— — Edited by Melissa Johnson
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Journalism students sweep national competition
From a fellow Jayhawk journalist, congratulations to Matt and Megan!
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