2024 Gridiron Scholarship Winners View Election Coverage with a Critical Eye
The Gridiron Club and Foundation and the Journalism Division at 猫咪社区app University School of Commmunication (AU SOC) are thrilled to announce that two SOC student are 2024聽winners of $4,000 scholarship awards.
Abigail Turner won the award for undergraduate students.聽聽She is currently Editor-in-Chief at AU's聽award-winning student newspaper, The Eagle. Turner聽will graduate in the spring with a dual bachelor鈥檚 degree in journalism and political science.
Natalia Quintana-Feliciano is a Master's student in the Journalism and Digital Storytelling program for professionals. She鈥檚 currently as a senior production associate in streaming media at PBS and a reporter for The Wash.org.聽
With AU鈥檚 president Jonathan A. Alger鈥檚 new Civic Life initiative in mind, judges聽asked student journalists to write essays describing their views of media coverage leading up to and following the 2024 presidential election. Students offered ideas on how they might run news organizations differently.
Quintana-Feliciano鈥檚 essay detailed how she would combat the spread of misinformation through hyper-local, neighborhood-based reporting. Turner鈥檚 essay argued that legacy media organizations underestimated the influence of non-traditional media during the presidential election cycle.
Finalist judges included Rema Rahman, White House and Legal Affairs Editor for the Hill, Jennifer Mizgata, former director of programs for the Online News Association and a digital innovation business leader, and SOC鈥檚 investigative broadcaster in residence, Chris Halsne.
The Gridiron Club and Foundation is one of the oldest journalism organizations in the District. Founded in 1885, this non-profit has supported AU journalism students for many years with financial awards. The organization鈥檚 mission is to establish a forum for Washington journalists to promote friendly relations, exchange ideas among its members, and educate the public about Washington journalism.