Journalism faculty awarded the annual Bynum G. Shaw prize for student journalism to Ella Klein, editor-in-chief at the Old Gold & Black. Klein is an Environmental and Sustainability Studies major, with minors in Journalism and Anthropology. The program also recognized three finalists: Virginia Noone, former OG&B opinion editor;  Sklyer Villamar-Jones, deputy editor; and Beza Zelalem, environmental editor.

The prizes were announced at the English Department awards celebration April 16 in the Magnolia Room. The OG&B’s Arts and Culture editor Adam Coil, won the H Broadus Jones Senior excellence award in English.

Remarks by Phoebe Zerwick, Director of the Journalism Program, are reprinted below:

Thank you to the English Department for including the annual prize for student journalism in your awards celebration. I spent a good part of yesterday rereading a year’s worth of Old Gold & Black  coverage and I can say with confidence that Bynum G Shaw, the journalist and English professor for whom our annual prize is named, would be proud of you.

I say something every year about the value of a free and independent student press, but the moment feels more urgent than ever.

Ever since Shaw’s time, student journalism at Wake Forest has been informed by the basic principles of reliable journalism —  the commitment to verified facts, independence and accountability. Today, with the press under attack – and with it academic freedom  —  the moment demands something more even than those principles. It requires courage from all of us.

Almost a year ago, students began protesting on Manchester Quad against the Israeli attacks in Gaza. Students with the OG&B were right there with them, reporting live from the quad. The story of the reaction on this campus continued into the fall, with the cancellation of Palestinian scholar Rabab Abdulhadi’s visit and on into early this year with another canceled speaker, this time an American volunteer with the Israeli Defense Force.

The OG&B covered these complex and nuanced stories with skill and integrity. And they persevered in the face of public criticism, even from some members of the faculty. They responded the way responsible journalists do, by opening their pages to their critics. And then they went back to the business of student journalism, reporting on life here at Wake Forest.

I read so many fine stories yesterday. Their expanded coverage of state and local government, including a story about some 246 student ballots that have been challenged by the Republican candidate for state supreme court. No one else is providing that information. And dozens of other stories about the environment, sports, performances and all the other regular news and features that make this campus a community.

We are living in dangerous times. Just this morning, in my News Literacy class, we talked about Rumeysa Ozturk, the Tufts graduate student who is still fighting her deportation over her op-ed for the Tufts Daily. Because of such risks, OG&B editors now have to think about the immigration status of their writers.

Journalists, and I count student journalists among the ranks, are in the same business we all are, which is to defend the pursuit of facts, open inquiry into ideas, and freedom of expression.

May we all take on this challenge with the energy and courage of the students we honor this afternoon.

Now for our prizes:

The Bynum G Shaw prize goes to Ella Klein, editor-in-chief at the Old Gold & Black, an Environmental and Sustainability Studies major with minors in anthropology and journalism. Ella is beyond busy. Trust me. I’ve seen her color-coded calendar. She also works at a downtown restaurant on the weekends. Produces a Monday evening radio show. And even when I know she must be stressed, she is smiling.

I have so much admiration for Ella, but rather than say more, I’ll quote from an Earth Talk she gave last week about a story she wrote a little over a year ago that exposed the failures of our local government to deliver on their promised compensation to victims of the Weaver fertilizer plant fire.

“Writing for the newspaper was intoxicating. I had always wanted to make a difference — and here I was, writing stories that mattered to my community that I love so dearly. It’s continuously the biggest honor of my life,” she said.

“You do not need to take a long entry exam to be a journalist. You don’t even need to hold a degree. You just need to have a strong ethical code, a sharp mind and pencil, and the drive to find a good story.”

Ella, you have all of those qualities.

Finalists:

Virginia Noone is a Critical and Creative Media major, with minors in journalism and English. She is also the former photography editor and the former opinion editor at the OG&B and regular contributor, including my personal favorite: “No, the Media is not Lying to You,” which beautifully expressed what it takes me an entire semester to teach.

Barry Yeoman, who teaches Magazine Writing and Mastering the Interview for us, had this to say: 

“Virginia Noone is fearless. She takes on complex issues—for example, messy environmental conflicts—and finds compelling and sympathetic characters to illustrate the different perspectives. She interviews them over months and renders their stories accurately and cinematically. Then she braids those stories deftly and weaves in big-picture policy. In my experience, it is rare for an undergraduate to find equal compassion for conflicting protagonists. It’s even rarer for someone to turn that compassion into effective narrative structures and eminently readable prose. But Virginia does.”

Skyler Villamar-Jones is a Politics and Communications double major, minor in journalism and deputy editor OG&B, which means she gives the final read to every story published.

I sound like a broken record here, but in February, she wrote a column I never imagined would need to be written in defense of free speech: “The First Amendment is vital to every newspaper. It not only protects journalists who share their opinions but also upholds the ability of Americans to speak up against those in power. Without freedom of speech and the press, there is no check on our government.”

Ivan Weiss had this to say about her: “Skyler has a calming, almost meditative presence. She is a deep listener. She looks at the world with openness and curiosity. She leaves plenty of space for others to speak and tell their stories, but when it comes time for her to share, she invariably comes out with insightful, thought-provoking remarks. She is a hard working student and a dedicated journalist. She doesn’t wear any of this on her sleeve, but as a teacher, you can tell all this by her work, which is sensitive, surprising and quietly revealing.”

Beza Zelalem is one of two environmental editors at the OG&B, an African American Studies major, with minors in Environmental Studies and Journalism. She is also an opinion writer who has written unflinchingly about what it feels like to be a Black student on campus and more recently about her reasons early last semester for leaving Casa Artom, where I was resident professor, because of her struggles with mental health. Anyone who teaches abroad should read her column.

Lisa Sorg, her professor in environmental journalism had this to say:

“A force for good: That’s Beza Zelalem. She covered environmental justice communities with empathy and humility, while holding accountable those whose political and social decisions burdened low-income neighborhoods and communities of color with pollution. Beza deployed her natural curiosity and listening skills, then wove in science, policy, law, people and place to write compelling stories that document one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time.”