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| Courtesy photo |
| Rachel Stark (second from left) competed in the Hearst awards program in New York. Afterward, she posed with (from left) judges Jeff Cohen, editor of the Houston Chronicle; Peter Bhatia, editor of the Oregonian; and Jennifer Sizemore, editor-in-chief of MSNBC.com. |
The program stages contests over the course of a year, with journalism undergraduates at participating colleges competing in areas such as writing, broadcast, multimedia and photojournalism.
IU won the overall writing competition, and Stark’s position qualified her to compete at the national level. Below, she recounts the experience of reporting on deadline in the Big Apple.
Reflections on the Hearst competition
By Rachel Stark
I stepped foot in New York City for the first time on a Tuesday afternoon. Before I had time to let the reality of the situation sink in, I was sent out on the most intense writing assignments I have been faced with as a journalism student.
I found out in December that I would be competing in the Hearst Journalism Championships in New York. An article I had written placed second in the competition, and since the winner was ineligible to compete in the finals, I would go. For months, the mention of Hearst brought both excitement and nerves.
Those nerves increased when the three assignments were revealed to me and the seven other finalists. The judges shared the on-the-spot assignment with us first on the Tuesday night after we arrived: We had one day to tell a New York immigrant’s story. And be back by dinnertime.
I had practiced this several times in Bloomington. But this was New York City. We weren’t even confined to Central Park. We had the entire city and its suburbs to work with.
My quest to find a unique angle took me all over the city with my paper map as my guide. The places I visited included a hospital, a Jamaican woman’s house in Brooklyn and an ESL class in downtown Manhattan. Finally, with two hours until I had to be back for dinner, I found a story I wanted to use. I approached two men dressed in Army fatigues on the street and asked if they knew any immigrants who joined the Army.
They introduced me to Hannibal, a shy Filipino who enlisted in the military shortly after moving to the U.S. because he believed it was his duty as an immigrant. I spoke with Hannibal several more times that day, each time becoming more intrigued by his story. I stayed up late that night writing.
The next morning was another big day. Our other two assignments were based on an interview with the mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg. We were to write a 1,000-word personality profile and 500-word news story from the 40-minute group interview. All three of our stories were to be turned in by 6 p.m.
At 9 a.m., we walked into the Hearst Tower for the interview. Shortly after Mayor Bloomberg walked in, he talked for 15 minutes about his role as the leader of New York, then we each were allowed one question. Afterwards, we all hurried back to our hotel to write.
As a journalism student, I am familiar with tight deadlines. But my two days on assignment for the competition pushed me harder than ever. It was a challenge to find sources—both the common man on the street and powerful people in the city. It was a great learning experience to attend all the dinners with well-known people in the field. It was both fun and inspiring to meet the other finalists who either just graduated and have obtained jobs or who are still in school and anticipate their job search in the near future.
At 5:58 p.m. that day, I handed in my stories. The nerves were lingering, but I knew that no matter how I placed, I would leave New York with much more than when I came.
At the collegiate awards dinner that night, Dean Hamm received IU’s award for first place overall in the writing category, thanks to the hard work of many IU journalism students whose stories placed well. Though I did not place in the top three, I am grateful for the additional scholarship I received, but even more so for all that I gained through the experience. I was excited for the three winners (from Penn State, University of Georgia and Northwestern, respectively). I admire all of the finalists I competed against and plan to keep in touch.
I hope that doing well in the Hearst competition is a goal that our school and students continue to strive for, in all categories—writing, photography, radio and television broadcasting, and multimedia. The championships were an unforgettable experience for me, and I hope others can have that same opportunity.