Journalist of the Year
High school seniors with student media experience may apply. The winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship (made possible through the MPC Endowment Ltd., a philanthropic affiliate of the Milwaukee Press Club) and be forwarded to the National High School Journalist of the Year Competition, which awards $3,000 for the winner and $1,000 for runners-up.
The application requires the creation of an online portfolio with examples and explanations of the applicants work. Since this can take awhile to compile it’s never too early to get started getting the materials together!
Submitting An Application for the 2024-2025 Contest:
Entries must be submitted to the following form by midnight on JANUARY 31, 2025 (be sure to have all required materials together before completing the application):
www.tinyurl.com/wjoyapplication
Deadlines:
JANUARY 31, 2025: The application and all materials must be submitted
FEBRUARY 15, 2025: The winner will be notified and announced
MARCH 15, 2025: Winning entry will be submitted to the national contest
Requirements:
- A PDF of an official or unofficial high school TRANSCRIPT or counselor’s statement (including journalism classes taken and current GPA)
- A personal RESUME including all positions held in student media as well as any other school or work experiences or awards
- A LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION from the student’s journalism adviser highlighting his or her journalistic strengths and experiences (should not exceed two pages)
- A SELF-ANALYTICAL ESSAY reflecting on his or her journalistic experiences and skills and how they have developed (should not exceed two pages)
- An ONLINE PORTFOLIO that includes work examples illustrating your development of at least FIVE of the 9 journalism skills outlined by the Journalism Education Association: Reporting and Writing; Editing; Leadership and Team Building; Design; Broadcast Journalism; Photojournalism; Web and Social Media; Law, Ethics and News Literacy; Marketing and Audience Engagement and Commitment to Diversity.
For your ONLINE PORTFOLIO: Applicant may use any website or program to compile or share (Google Sites provides an easy, free way to present and share such media). Also make sure to provide at least one work example entry to illustrate your work in each category you choose. Each entry should include the following:
- A copy or representation of or link to what was done (a copy of the story or page design or photo or video, scans of editing or related documents or schoolwork, photos of work being completed, etc.)
- An explanation for each artifact that touches on the assignment/work, any difficulties encountered and why is was included
Resources:
Overview flyer with links:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/152GH1SnQosouiWZSXr6F8qgqXTyCuQYF/view?usp=sharing
Helping information, advice and links for creating your ONLINE PORTFOLIO:
https://tinyurl.com/wjoyportfolio
Full rules:
https://tinyurl.com/wjoyrules