By: Julie Shamgochian '17
Journalism major and English minor Stephanie Murray ’18 has received the Roy W. Howard National Collegiate Reporting Award — an honor earning her a 10-day study trip to Japan.
“I’m excited to tour different Japanese news outlets and see how they do journalism,” said Murray. “I’m also excited to experience this with other student journalists and like-minded people.”
Joe Coleman, a professor at Indiana University and former AP Bureau chief in Tokyo, will be leading the nine recipients through Japan May 11-20.
The award, established in 1984, is granted through the Scripps Howard Foundation and Indiana University. It was founded in memory of Roy W. Howard, the leader of Scripps Howard Newspapers and the 1912 president of the United Press.
“The competition’s prize — the trip — seeks to follow Howard’s footsteps in bringing a better understanding of other cultures and their journalistic practices to American students,” according to the Indiana University Media School’s website.
Murray expressed her appreciation to our department chair, Kathy Forde, for encouraging her to apply to this national award.
“Stephanie’s reporting is smart, appropriately framed and sourced, well-written, organized,” said Forde. “Her stories demonstrate excellent news judgment, high professional standards, and hard-charging, shoe-leather reporting. She is one of the most enterprising, successful, and capable college reporters I’ve known in my many years in higher ed.”
“I am truly grateful to UMass Journalism,” said Murray. “The department is really a hidden gem and I hope that me winning this award will encourage other student journalists to dream big and reach for the national stuff because we are competitive and prepared.”
Murray is currently a correspondent for the Daily Hampshire Gazette, where she had the opportunity to cover the first fatal shooting in 12 years in Amherst.
“She has had more headline front-page stories than I can count,” said Forde.
Prior to her time as a correspondent, Murray worked as the Gazette’s 2016 news intern and then became a summer staffer covering general assignments.
"Stephanie is so talented as a reporter and writer, so on the ball, that she turned an internship into a paid summer job with us," said Larry Parnass, the Gazette's editor-in-chief.
Murray has reported on breaking news, local politics, municipal reporting, business stories and features. She took the lead on covering the Divest Protest at UMass, which resulted in a 250-person sit-in with 32 arrests.
On campus, Murray serves as the editor-in-chief of Amherst Wire, our student-run digital magazine. She will be bringing Amherst Wire’s editorial staff to their first ever conference in New York City this March.
She was also a recipient of the Online News Association (ONA) scholarship, granting her the opportunity to attend the Online News Association Conference this past September in Denver, Colorado. Murray has continued her involvement with ONA locally by participating in ONA’s Western New England group.
After Murray returns home from Japan on May 20, she will be starting her internship at Statehouse News Service and MASSterlist.