2024 Student Journalism Finalists
Alex Walters, Owen McCarthy & Theo Scheer
The State News at Michigan State University
Inside the Nassar Documents
- For MSU, Nassar scandal was a ‘war’ to be won
- Current MSU VP tried to ‘justify’ Nassar’s abuse in 2018 meeting
- MSU omitted key details in 2014 Nassar case, documents reveal
Comments From the Judges:
“The State News reporters painstakingly pored through thousands of documents that no other outlet had the patience or determination to examine, discovered damning new information and presented it to the public in digestible, easy-to-understand chunks. It was a Herculean effort executed flawlessly.”
“This is an impressive entry on many levels. My hat is off to these students for quickly organizing an effort to comb through a huge trove of documents that were released in a way that officials would hope would make it so hard to search and read that it would stay out of public view. And the reporters worked quickly amid their usual classes and other work to get a series of impactful articles out. I saw evidence of extra reporting beyond just the documents as well.”
Katelynn Winebrenner, Laura Shaughnessy, Khushboo Rathore, Max Schaeffer & Caroline Pecora
Local News Network at University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism
Child Care: Missing in Maryland
- Child care is scarce in Maryland and the nation — and the pandemic made matters worse
- Finding child care in Maryland is hard. Finding the right child care is even harder.
- On child care, a fitful search for local solutions to a national problem
Comments From the Judges:
“The county-by-county stats and narrative snapshots make this impressively comprehensive. And the series does an impressive job giving a national context for the child care crisis. Well done work on an important and complex issue. Each story offers nuance to a very real challenge for so many families.”
“Excellent story. It gives national sweep to a local story about the child care shortages. The reporters assembled an impressive analysis of child care centers for the state, but they also weaved in [a] national context that helps local readers understand larger trends and solutions. Notably, the story includes many ground-level sources — parents and child care providers — who bring the story to life.”
Sarah Yousseff, Roury Fitzpatrick, Ashley Carr, Alexis Schmidt, Brianna Schmidt, Ethan Rodriguez, Steve Dixon, Shawn McCarthy, Jayden Joseph, Oswaldo Nunez, Zion Williams, Ash Prasai, Annie Marchese, Sukey Hayden & Joe Book
PBS News Student Reporting Labs
Run, Hide, Fight: Growing Up Under the Gun
Comments From the Judges:
“A major project on an issue of national consequence for children. Impressive coordination of student reporters from across the country to get insights on how this is playing out in cities. The use of data and a host introducing each segment provided continuity in a package of very strong storytelling from journalists, highlighting so many sides and experiences of a complex topic.”
“When you hear student journalism and think about the ways journalism should and needs to include student voices, perspectives and experiences, this is it. There is so much that can be said about gun violence, and they [allude] in the beginning how heavy and depressing of a topic it can be, but somehow viewers are walking away from this package feeling hopeful. It was succinct in the underlying message even though it took viewers from story to story. Overall this was a people-driven story and it did just that.”
