Argus Wins Awards at Journalism Conference
The Argus won awards for Sports Writing, Photojournalism, and Illustration. Photo Credit: Ms. Keisha Darius
By SHAMAIL NASEER and
YESENIA PEREGRINA
The Midwood Argus received three New York Scholastic Press Association awards at the 16th Annual NYC High School Journalism Conference held at Baruch College on November 8. Argus took home first place for Sports Writing and Photojournalism and second place for Illustrative Work. Individual honors went to seniors Justin Chow, Anisa Kaloshi, Elizabeth Vool, and Jerry Aneke.
The judges described Chow’s photographs as “fit for publication in a professional paper.”
“I was shocked that I won,” said Chow, Argus’s photographer. “After they called the second place, I didn’t think I would have a chance. It was honestly a cherry on top of a great day.”
Aneke, who draws “The Anti-Climactic Life of Anna” for the Argus, thought the win was a joke. But after reflecting on his accomplishment, he only had the future in mind.
“Since it’s my senior year, I hope that whoever takes my place puts the same passion into their work as I did,” he said.
Kaloshi and Vool won for their article “Boys Baseball Focuses on Becoming Better Men,” which the judges praised for its handling of off-the-field issues. They wrote the article as juniors in Midwood’s journalism course. Both students are now editors for the Argus.
Before the awards ceremony, the Argus staff had the opportunity to explore various journalism workshops and learn more about the field. These workshops included Photojournalism, Editing Strategies, Working for a College Newspaper, Brainstorming Feature Story Ideas, Audio Reporting and Podcasting, Mastering Headlines, Finding Facts, and many more.
The staff was also able to interact with Baruch journalism professors, editors of Baruch’s independent student newspaper The Ticker, and other people who work in the journalism field.
The leaders of the “Working for a College Newspaper” workshop were college sophomores and editors of The Ticker, each with different levels of experience. For instance, Diana Shishkina, the current managing editor for The Ticker, found her passion for writing and editing when she realized how much she enjoyed editing her friends’ college essays. She wasn’t a part of her high school newspaper. However, she was able to work her way up to not only be the managing editor for The Ticker, but also a research editor at Stacker, a “real world” online newspaper.
Ayse Kelce, Business Editor for The Ticker said, “The Ticker is a home. Not everyone is a journalism major, but everyone deeply cares for the paper.”
In the “Making the Most of Your Interviews” workshop, Christina Carrera, a law enforcement reporter for ABC News, demonstrated how a journalist should act in certain intense situations. In one example, she had three students play pretend reporters who needed to interview a grieving civilian. During this scenario, she pointed out how a reporter must work on everything from asking questions to reading facial features and body language.
Carrera has attended the conference for the past five years because she enjoys interacting with students aspiring to join her field, she said. She also attends because she believes it’s important to promote people of color in the world of journalism.
“When I was your guys’ age, I didn’t have anybody that looked like me to talk about this stuff,” she said. “I also didn’t know anything about organizations that try to promote people of color in this industry, so it’s important for me to come to these things.”
In addition to the workshops, there was a Student Press Conference during lunch where students had the opportunity to pose questions to a college admission representative and a Baruch international student who is majoring in journalism.
“How do AP credits transfer?” asked Lisbeth Juela Tenemaza ’20.
The Baruch college admission representative explained that AP scores must first be sent to the college that one is planning to attend. For CUNY schools specifically, you receive college credit for a score of three and above. The type of credit depends on the AP test; core subjects receive three credits for the respective subject, and other subjects receive three elective credits.
“I found it really helpful since I’ve taken so many APs,” said Juela Tenemaza. “It gives me a bit of relief.”
Then there was a third series of workshops from accomplished speakers such as Daniel Adkison, a senior editor at the New York Times, who talked about editing and making it as a journalist in New York. After the workshop, students were ushered over to the conference room where the award ceremony was set to take place.
Students and teachers alike were on the edge of their seats, hoping to take home awards to their school. It was a dramatic end for the Argus staff when Midwood took home three wins.