61st Annual Gertrude Gordon Scholarship Contest
Winners will be awarded at the 126th Annual Dinner & Journalism Awards on April 8.
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First place: Stephen Caruso — University of Pittsburgh
Stephen Caruso is a senior economics student at the University of Pittsburgh. He has worked at its student newspaper, The Pitt News, since his freshmen year. It was at The Pitt News where he learned most everything he knows about journalism. Stephen has also interned at Pittsburgh City Paper, and is currently an intern at PublicSource. His career goal is to be a foreign correspondent. Second place: Emily Brindley — University of Pittsburgh
Emily Brindley is senior majoring in non-fiction writing and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. She has served as staff writer, assistant neweditor and culture editor at The Pitt News, according to her LinkedIn profile. Brindley worked as an intern last summer at Pittsburgh Quarterly. Third place: Mark Marino — Penn State
Mark Marino is a senior at Penn State, graduating in May 2017 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and Spanish and a minor in international communications. Mark was a reporter and editor for Penn State’s student-run newspaper the Daily Collegian for three years. He wrote about the arts, local business, crime and opinions. Mark interned with 91.3 WYEP radio station for two summers and will begin interning as a business reporter at the China Daily in Beijing this summer. Mark is fluent in Spanish and studied abroad in Granada, Spain, during his junior year. He now volunteers by helping non-native English speakers learn English and American culture. |
2017 interview subject: Tom Kurlander, co-founder/producer of 21Voices
Tom Kurlander has over 30 years in the entertainment business in acting, music and creating documentary films. In 2005, Tom founded Family Shorts, a documentary film production company that has helped tell the stories of Pittsburgh businesses, organizations and families including Bill Strickland & Manchester Manchester, Community Day School, David and Cynthia Shapira and Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh. He directs features, documentaries, music videos, web series and commercials. Tom is also Founder/CEO of Pale Blue Entertainment which opened a Pittsburgh production office in 2016.
It is from Tom’s own “quick education” in Alzheimer’s, born from an urgent phone call regarding his mother that 21Voices is a personal mission for him.
It is from Tom’s own “quick education” in Alzheimer’s, born from an urgent phone call regarding his mother that 21Voices is a personal mission for him.
To give feedback or find out more information about next year's contest, email kennedy.bctimes@gmail.com. Contest to be held mid-February with results announced in March ahead of April banquet.
Participated before? Take our survey: https://goo.gl/forms/0T2o7xCBUPG5tj9b2
Participated before? Take our survey: https://goo.gl/forms/0T2o7xCBUPG5tj9b2
Information about the contest:
Eligibility:
- Full-time undergraduate sophomores, juniors and seniors at local colleges. Male and female students welcome.
- Western Pennsylvania residents or attendee of Western Pennsylvania college university
- No regularly published material in professional media (except as student intern or occasional stringer). Student media staff members welcome.
- Students will receive an information sheet on the speaker but are encouraged to do additional research to prepare for the interview session.
- Contest entrants will interview the speaker together for about one hour, then they will have two hours to write a news feature story based on the information gathered in the session.
- Entries will be selected on a blind-judging system by local journalists. Students will provide the club with their social security numbers and type that number on their entries.
- Winners will be notified by club officials. The club will award prizes of up to $2,000. The winners will be invited to the Women’s Press Club’s anniversary dinner scheduled this spring. Winners will need to provide the scholarship committee chair with a transcript (unofficial is fine) to verify student status and to pass on to our funder, the Pittsburgh Foundation. That information will be kept confidential.
For printable rules, download a PDF:
Awarding students for 61 years
The Women’s Press Club scholarship competition honors Gertrude Gordon, one of the first female reporters in Pittsburgh to have her byline appear over her articles.
She joined the Pittsburgh Press in 1908 and for 19 years reported what Pittsburgh women were doing and saying, according to a 100-year history of the Women’s Press Club written by Ann Zurosky. Gordon had a flamboyant style and was blackballed for a time by the club because of her sensational style of writing. When she was finally admitted to the club, she remained a faithful member until she left for New York.
Check out this biography of Gertrude Gordon from the Post-Gazette's Digs blog with some great photos!
A year after Gordon's death in 1955, her family and friends and co-workers started a scholarship fund in her memory. The first winner, Rose Marie Scarpiello, a journalism major at the University of Pittsburgh was awarded a $75 prize. The club has remained committed to the scholarship fund through the years, and it has held the feature writing competition annually – and the prizes have definitely increased. Originally the contest was held at the newspapers in town, but it has been housed at Point Park University for nearly 20 years.
In 2016, students interviewed janera solomon, executive director of the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty. See 2015 and 2014's winners in our banquet recaps on the News page. In 2013, entrants profiled staff member of Allegheny County controller Chelsa Wagner. Tegan Hanlon, of the University of Pittsburgh, scored first place in 2013. After a summer internship at The Dallas Morning News, she is now a reporter at the Anchorage Daily News.
She joined the Pittsburgh Press in 1908 and for 19 years reported what Pittsburgh women were doing and saying, according to a 100-year history of the Women’s Press Club written by Ann Zurosky. Gordon had a flamboyant style and was blackballed for a time by the club because of her sensational style of writing. When she was finally admitted to the club, she remained a faithful member until she left for New York.
Check out this biography of Gertrude Gordon from the Post-Gazette's Digs blog with some great photos!
A year after Gordon's death in 1955, her family and friends and co-workers started a scholarship fund in her memory. The first winner, Rose Marie Scarpiello, a journalism major at the University of Pittsburgh was awarded a $75 prize. The club has remained committed to the scholarship fund through the years, and it has held the feature writing competition annually – and the prizes have definitely increased. Originally the contest was held at the newspapers in town, but it has been housed at Point Park University for nearly 20 years.
In 2016, students interviewed janera solomon, executive director of the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty. See 2015 and 2014's winners in our banquet recaps on the News page. In 2013, entrants profiled staff member of Allegheny County controller Chelsa Wagner. Tegan Hanlon, of the University of Pittsburgh, scored first place in 2013. After a summer internship at The Dallas Morning News, she is now a reporter at the Anchorage Daily News.
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Last updated: 2/5/17
