In his 19 years, sophomore Peter Stevenson has traveled through Europe, the Caribbean and India, but this summer he will head to uncharted areas of his passport: Japan and Korea.

Stevenson is one of nine winners of the Roy W. Howard Collegiate Reporting Competition, a contest that drew applicants from universities around the nation. Winners leave June 9 for a 13-day, all-expense paid trip to Seoul, Tokyo and Kyoto to meet with the area's leading journalists and visit media outlets.

Scripps Howard Foundation and the School of Journalism sponsor the program, which honors the memory of the journalist who led Scripps Howard Newspapers from 1922-1953 and United Press International from 1912-1920.

The "competition" itself happened weeks ago when Stevenson submitted four articles he had written for the Indiana Daily Student, including two about graduate students receiving dental insurance and two focusing on the resignation of IU President Adam Herbert.

Saturday night, Stevenson noticed a missed call and voicemail from Sue Porter, vice president of programs at Scripps Howard Foundation.

"She said 'Congratulations, you won' and asked for a mug shot and biography," Stevenson said.

The political science major currently is the city and state editor of the Indiana Daily Student and will serve as a campus editor in the fall. He has had internships with CBS News and the New York Times.

Despite his travel abroad and having lived in England for four years, Stevenson is expecting a culture shock. That's where School of Journalism Dean Brad Hamm steps in. Having studied Asia's news industry, he will serve as a tour guide to the nine winning students.

Hamm said Roy Howard shared his appreciation of Asia.

"We chose this primarily because of him and because the fact that many journalists have never been there," Hamm said.

Hamm said he will try to incorporate Howard's experience in to the trip, taking one of the trips abroad by boat.

"That's how Howard traveled," Hamm said.



Read about the other eight winners at the Scripps Howard Foundation Web site.

Read about the competition.

Read about last year's IU winner, Audrie Garrison.