SMPA junior, Tatiana Cirisano, was recently named one of the winners of the Roy W. Howard National Collegiate Reporting Competition. Cirisano and nine other lucky students will take part in a nine-day, all-expenses paid, study trip to Japan.
Cirisano, who learned about the competition in SMPA’s Weekly Rundown newsletter, decided to apply after learning more about the organization’s namesake, Roy Howard, and his belief that every newsworthy issue is influenced by culture.
The Roy W. Howard National Collegiate Reporting Competition, now in its eleventh year, was established in 1984 to honor Howard, who led Scripps Howard Newspapers from 1922-1953 and United Press from 1912-1920.
“I was inspired by Howard’s legacy of international reporting, but also by his emphasis on understanding people in different parts of the world,” said Cirisano. “I wanted to be part of that emphasis, and I knew the program’s study experience in Japan—a country that was of special interest to Howard—would afford me that opportunity.”
The Miami native has been published in various publications and has served as an assistant editor for GW’s campus newspaper, The Hatchet, among other roles. She was previously an intern for Hearst Newspapers Washington Bureau where she covered Capitol Hill for various newspapers across the country.
Cirisano, who departs on her trip on May 12, will visit several sites and cities in Japan including Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe, and Hiroshima. She is most excited to sharpen her storytelling skills with fellow journalists and learn more about the culture.
“I’m excited to be exposed to a country completely different from anywhere I’ve ever been, and share that experience with fellow college journalists,” said Cirisano. “To be immersed in Japanese culture and learn about the country’s own media organizations would broaden the perspective I can bring to future stories in a way that can’t be replicated in the classroom.”