Topic for spring 2024:
Media literacy is connected to democracy. What are some top strategies to engage people of all ages with media literacy and democracy?
Deadline
Upload by Feb. 19, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Central time/9:59 p.m. Pacific time.
Resource for 2024
Learn more about media literacy and democracy by watching the “Trustworthy” documentary.
“Trustworthy” is a 90-minute documentary that chronicles a 5,300-mile journey across America to explore how the growing crisis of trust in media threatens our democracy, and whether we can find common ground. From small towns to urban enclaves, filmmakers speak with journalists, experts and everyday Americans across the political spectrum about how we got to this critical moment, how we can become better news and information consumers, and how we can come together to rise above the misinformation and discourse aimed at dividing our communities.
Request a free screening of the documentary.
About the award
The Sigma Delta Chi Foundation of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Journalism Education Association want to increase high school students’ knowledge and understanding of the importance of independent media to our lives. National winners of this essay contest receive scholarship awards.
Who is eligible?
All students enrolled in grades 9-12 in U.S. public, private and home schools within the United States. Students must submit original work.
Format?
The essay should be 300-500 words. Entries may be typed or handwritten but must be double-spaced.
Entering
Each submission to the essay contest must be accompanied by a $5 entry fee.
Award recognition
First Place: $1,000 scholarship
Second Place: $500 scholarship
Third Place: $300 scholarship
Scholarships are funded by the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Winners will be notified via email, and the names of winners will be announced in May. Winning essays also will be posted on JEA.org and SPJ.org.
Official rules
Section I – General Rules
1. Contestants must enter through JEA’s contests and awards portal.
2. Contestants must compose an original essay with limited guidance from others.
3. The Journalism Education Association and Society of Professional Journalists will have the right to edit, publish or otherwise duplicate any essay entered into the contest without payment to the author.
4. Due to the volume of entries received, only national winners will be contacted with the results.
5. The entry fee for this contest is $5 per essay.
Section II – Qualifications for Contestants
1. The contest is open to all students in grades 9-12 in public, private and home schools within the United States.
2. Contestants may submit only one essay entry during any given contest year.
3. No individual having previously won a national SPJ essay scholarship will be eligible to compete at any level of the competition again.
Section III – Contest Rules
1. Participants must write on the official topic.
2. Each entry must include the online entry form.
3. Essays may be typewritten or legibly handwritten but must be double-spaced.
4. Essays must contain at least 300 words but no more than 500 words. Every word of the essay is counted. This does not include the title, bibliography or footnotes.
5. Any quotations or copyrighted material used in the essay must be identified properly. Failure to identify non-original material will result in disqualification.
6. Essays must be written in English.
7. Any protest in the conduct of the contest must be made immediately. The JEA executive director will decide all protests in conformity with the contest rules. The decision of the executive director is final, and no higher appeals will be recognized.
Section IV – Judging and Timing
1. Judging will be completed by a panel of qualified judges.
2. Judges will not discuss or compare essays being judged until all essays have been judged.
3. Only judges can assign a penalty or award points.
Section V – Scoring of Contest
Scoring procedures at all levels of the contest will be identical.
1. Material Organization (Logical interpretation of the subject, adherence to topic): 40 points
2. Vocabulary and Style (Phrasing and continuity): 30 points
3. Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling: 20 points
4. Neatness: 5 points
5. Adherence to contest rules (prepared in the proper format): 5 points
Recipients
2023
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Jamie Kim, Eastern Christian High School, North Haledon, New Jersey
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Elizabeth Ray, Montgomery (Alabama) Academy
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Ashir Rao, Los Gatos (California) High School
2022
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Mariam Baldwin, St. Vincent Pallotti High School, Laurel, Maryland
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Grace Holst, Durango (Colorado) High School
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Anjali Suva, Oxford Academy, Cypress, California
2021
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Hyungsoon Henry Kim, St. Paul’s School — Concord, New Hampshire
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Qingyang Li, Friendswood High School – Friendswood, Texas
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Erin Stoeckig, Mayo High School – Rochester, Minnesota
2020
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Janet Chang, Newport High School — Bellevue, Washington
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Kiara Royer, Horace Mann School – Bronx, New York
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Jennifer Su, Plano West Senior High School – Plano, Texas
2019
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Dennis Zhang, Peddie School — Hillsborough, New Jersey
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Quinna Halim, Northville High School – Novi, Michigan
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Mattias Hoz, Berkeley High School – Berkeley, California
2018
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Alexandria Kim, Marlborough School – Los Angeles, California
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Madeleine Bernardeau, Hunter College High School – New York, New York
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Emili Kovell, East Brunswick High School – East Brunswick, New Jersey
2017
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Lauryn Wu, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winners (tie): Aliza Diepenbrock, Spring Street International School, Friday Harbor, Washington; Carolyn Harper, Bob Jones High School, Madison, Alabama
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Eileen Yang, Peddie School, Hightstown, New Jersey
2016
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Simon Levien, Sparta High School, Sparta, New Jersey
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: David Oks, The Masters School, Dobbs Ferry, New York
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Christine Condon, Dulaney High School, Timonium, Maryland
2015
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Matthew Zipf, Richard Montgomery High School, Rockville, Maryland. Read essay [PDF]
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Philip Kim, Paramus High School, Paramus, New Jersey. Read essay [PDF]
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Sania Chandrani, Parkview High School, Liburn, Georgia. Read essay [PDF]
2014
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Tianyu Lin of Milton Academy in Milton, Mass. Read essay [PDF]
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Phoebe Fox of La Pietra Hawaii School for Girls in Honolulu, Hawaii. Read essay [PDF]
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Jacob Bloch of Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington, N.Y. Read essay [PDF]
2013
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Courtney Swafford of Write from the Heart in Wilmington, Del. Read essay [PDF]
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Anran Yu of Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, Ariz. Read essay [PDF]
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Chuli Zeng of Woodbridge High School in Irvine, Calif. Read essay [PDF]
2012
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Hwasung (Daniel) Yoo of Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies in Richmond, Va. Read essay [PDF]
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Niisackey Mills of South Plainfield High School in South Plainfield, N.J. Read essay [PDF]
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Dustin Chandler of East Burke High School in Connellys Springs, N.C. Read essay [PDF]
2011
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Emerson Hardebeck of Timberline High School in Lacey, Wash. Read essay [PDF]
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Shaun Moran of St. Augustine Prep School in Richland, N.J. Read essay [PDF]
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Chris Papas of Oakton High School in Vienna, Va. Read essay [PDF]
2010
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Erin McDonough of Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, Va.
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Shaj Mathew of Huntingtown High School in Huntingtown, Md.
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Xiaonan “April” Hu of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va.
2009
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Alix Cohen of Cypress Bay High School, Weston, Fla.
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Victor Hollenberg of Staples High School, Westport, Conn.
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Alyssa Patrick of Eisenhower High School, Yakima, Wash.
2008
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Mark Brouch, Aurora Central Catholic High School, Aurora, Ill.
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Evan Rich, Jericho High School, Jericho, N.Y.
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Danna Seligman, Newbury Park High School, Newbury Park, Ca.
2007
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: David Kelly, Broomfield High School, Broomfield, Colo.
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Dan Garon, Robbinsdale Armstrong High School, Plymouth, Minn.
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Erin Gowdy, Bob Jones High School, Madison, Ala.
2006
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Angelika Zych, Vanguard High School, in Ocala, Fla.
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Jonathan Homrighausen of Sunnyside High School in Sunnyside, Wash.
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Amy Brooks of Clayton High School in Clayton, Mo.
2005
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Mindy Zhang, Robinson Secondary School, Fairfax, Va.
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Zachory John Drisko, Green Hope High School, Cary, N.C.
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Katie Roberts, Home schooled, Walnut Shade, Mo.
2004
— First Place, $1,000 Scholarship Winner: Heather Hamilton, Sentinel High School, Missoula, Mont.
— Second Place, $500 Scholarship Winner: Logan Oyler, Hickory High School, Chesapeake, Va.
— Third Place, $300 Scholarship Winner: Joey Muffler, Bishop Ireton High School Alexandria, VA
2002
— First Place Winner: Jonathan Ross Kaplan, Nova High School, Davie, Fla.
2000
— First Place Winner: Katie Pennock, West Henderson High School, Hendersonville, NC
1999
— First Place Winner: Darcy Colson Baxter, Lansing Central High School (near Ithaca, N.Y.)
1998
— First Place Winner: Michael Anthony Fedele III, Northwestern High School, Rock Hill, S.C.