It’s always great to be recognized for doing what you love and on May 26, Sophie Ota, JMC ’18, will return home to receive the top prize in the 2015 Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Excellence in Journalism Contest.
Ota applied to the contest after learning about it from her high school English teacher.
“I love my home state and I love journalism, so this year I was very determined to apply and hopefully get [the award],” said Ota.
Students who apply for the Excellence in Journalism Contest are eligible for a number of cash prizes from the Bob Eddy Scholarship Fund, named after the former publisher and editor of the Hartford Courant, the oldest daily newspaper in the country. Each year a handful of candidates are selected with the top prize valued at $2,500.
The prompt for this year’s contest asked applicants to write an essay about how well a specific publication covered a news story that they were interested in. Ota chose to write about how The Atlantic--her favorite publication--reported on the controversy surrounding notorious pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli.
“I talked about how The Atlantic covered the story including how he bought the single copy of the Wu-Tang Clan album to his hearing on the Hill,” said Ota.
All of the winners will attend a dinner on the 26th to accept their scholarships and make a statement about winning their award. Ota believes that as an organization, SPJ plays an important role in raising awareness about issues facing the journalism industry as well as develop aspiring writers, and eventually plans to join Connecticut’s chapter.
She also credits her education at SMPA for helping her to succeed, and for cultivating her skills as a writer.
“My SMPA education has made me appreciate news so much more,” said Ota.
Ota has previously interned with newspapers in Connecticut and is currently a campus reporter with GW WRGW radio news. While she recently explored another side of the industry in government communications, journalism is still her greatest love.
“Although I’ve tried a lot of different things in the past year, I’m definitely moving towards news again,” said Ota.