In May, Sacred Heart University (SHU) graduate students Alexandra Maxwell and Chumani Heard, as well as alumna Jenna Reynolds, won awards for their work submitted to the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists’ (SPJ) College Journalism Contest. They worked for the Fairfield County News (FCN) to create and produce the stories that earned them recognition.
| Daniel Passapara, Sacred Heart University |
When the Easton Courier, a local news publication, nearly went out of business in 2020, SHU’s School of Communication, Media & the Arts (SCMA) took over.
In just a few years, the Easton Courier won over 60 SPJ awards for local news coverage, and because of its success, it received grants from Press Forward, a foundation that donates to save community news outlets. The Easton Courier can be accessed online through their website, eastoncourier.news.
To write for the Easton Courier, undergrad students take CM-331 Topics in Journalism with Professor Ann Marie Somma.
“We didn’t want to only focus on traditional written articles. We also wanted to offer videos and podcasts, which we did through FCN,” said Professor Taciane Batista, current director of the Journalism and Media Production (JMP) graduate program.
“When these students graduate, they don’t just have a degree; they also have a portfolio of professional work they can show prospective employers,” said Professor Joseph Alicastro in the School of Media and the Arts, as well as former director of the JMP graduate program. “I think that’s one of the reasons why our students are becoming so successful.”
Graduate students also produce for these outlets as part of their internships. The SCMA offers three graduate assistantships for the Easton Courier and FCN, specifically for JMP students.
Alicastro said SHU alumni also return to do pieces for FCN. When working with local news on FCN, students gain professional newsroom experience, which is published through its website, fairfieldcountyct.news.
“They’re working in a timeline, they’re pitching a story, they’re finding the right people to interview, they’re putting all those journalist skills to practice,” said Batista.
“While working with FCN, I connected with so many incredible people who trusted me to tell their stories, making me the storyteller I am today,” said Reynolds.
Maxwell was awarded first place in the feature story category for her project titled “A Connecticut School Becomes an Early Test of Civil Rights.” Maxwell’s multimedia piece told the story of Prudence Crandall, a teacher in Canterbury, Conn. during the 1830s who opened the first school for Black women in the United States.
Heard’s second place finish in the general reporting category was for her story titled “Sacred Heart Poll Shows Sports Betting Scandals Hurt Trust in Pro Sports.”
Reynolds earned third place in the video storytelling category with “At Sacred Heart a New Team Blazes a Trail in Women’s Flag Football.”
“The awards are so noteworthy because our students are being recognized for real work against other news organizations. That brings us great joy,” said Alicastro.
The award recipients said they felt honored to receive recognition as it signified their dedication to storytelling. Both Maxwell and Reynolds attributed part of their success to the mentorship they received through SHU’s journalism program and FCN.
“We can guide them, we can tell them about these opportunities, but they’re the ones that pursue,” said Batista.
Maxwell said being awarded is not only a success for her personally, but for the subjects within her story too. She said sharing the news of her award with her interviewees brought her a lot of pride
“All three students did a fantastic job on their stories, and it proves that we are going in the right direction, training students to be professional journalists when they leave here. It doesn’t matter where they go; they’re ready,” said Batista.
