Two Medill graduates were among the eight finalists in the 2001 William Randolph Hearst Foundation Journalism Awards Competition held in San Francisco from June 8 to 12.
Matt Palmquist, Medill ’01, finished second in the national writing contest, which is commonly dubbed “the Pulitzer Prize of college journalism,” and earned a $4,000 scholarship. Junji Noda, Medill ’01, received a $1,000 scholarship for his participation in the event.
The first-place winners of six monthly writing competitions and two other students were invited to San Francisco for the contest, open only to students who have less than one year of full-time professional experience. Stories from 105 accredited journalism schools may be considered by the Foundation, said Medill Asst. Dean Roger Boye.
“It’s a very rigorous, well-run competition,” said Boye, who is also chairman of the internal Northwestern selection committee that submits students’ work for national judging.
During the finals, each student wrote three stories: one on the Haight-Ashbury Street Fair, one based on a news conference with Carl Pope, executive director of The Sierra Club, and a profile of Pope.
To make it to the finals, Palmquist placed first in the profile category for a story he wrote on his Teaching Newspaper internship at The (Portland) Oregonian.
The story, “Starting Over at 80” described an elderly farmer who replanted his orchard, which had been wiped out by wind. Palmquist also finished 12th in editorial/column writing.
“I didn’t think it was that good,” he said. “We ran better profiles in The Daily when I edited it. But it did all of the things that a profile story is supposed to do.”
Noda finished first in sportswriting for “Living By the Book,” which looked at the complexities of the NCAA rulebook for collegiate athletes and coaches.
“Roger Boye had told me my story probably would finish in the top 20, so that was all I expected,” Noda said. “But when I heard the news, it was more of a shock than anything. It was the last thing I had imagined to accomplish as a college journalist.”
Added Boye: “It’s a great thing on your r
