Returning with three awards in hand, members of the Horizon staff and journalism class attended Adelphi University’s 25th Annual Press Day and Quill Awards on Friday, Feb. 16. The event introduced writers to many local journalists, posited methods to navigate a journalism future dominated by artificial intelligence, and allowed event attendees to receive a tour of Adelphi.
Although the Quill Awards were the final segment of the day’s schedule, many students anticipated it the most. Horizon staff members received awards in half of the categories that articles were submitted into. For individual awards, Arts and Entertainment Managing Editor and junior Cassandra Levinson was awarded third place for her article “LHS Alumna Chooses Life Over War” in the Best Features Story category, and Editor-in-Chief and senior Olivia Lanteri was awarded third place in the Most Outstanding Reporter category. “I am honored to have been nominated by Mrs. Sanders and to have won such a prestigious honor! It feels amazing to be recognized for my hard work,” Lanteri shared.
The entire Horizon staff was bestowed with second place for Most Outstanding Newspaper; this is the third year in a row that Horizon has won honors in this category.
The students’ day began at LHS at 7:30 a.m., bagels in hand while boarding the bus to Adelphi. Upon arriving at the university, the students settled in preparation for the keynote speaker while gathering newspapers brought in by other high school publications. This year’s keynote speaker was James T. Madore, Newsday’s economics writer. Madore attended Washington University in St. Louis for his undergraduate education, then went on to earn his master’s degree at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Madore educated attendees on the art of performing an interview, including everything from knowing the right people to interview for an article to effective ways to transcribe interviews. At the conclusion of his presentation, Madore opened himself up to questions from the young journalists attending the event. Horizon Managing Editor and junior Justin Williams inquired about whether a journalist should stick to the script when asking questions in an interview or further clarify something with a follow-up question. Madore’s advice? “It’s better to ask dumb questions and get it right.”
Every year, Adelphi Press Day facilitates a panel discussion pertaining to a journalism topic. This year’s discussion was entitled, “Navigating the Future: What Will Journalism Look Like in Five Years?” Panelists included Madore; Mark Grabowski, lawyer and associate professor of journalism at Adelphi; Liza Burby, senior adjunct professor in Adelphi’s journalism program and faculty advisor to Adelphi’s student-run newspaper, The Delphian; Carl Corry, full-time journalism instructor at Suffolk County Community College and 25-year professional journalist; Vincent Messana, 2013 Adelphi alumnus and sports journalist; and Kennie Dionisio, fourth-year computer science student at Adelphi. The panelists discussed how to work alongside a digitized world, how to continue engaging with an audience, how to remain financially sustainable as a print publication, and how to reflect the diversity and varying perspectives of modern journalism. Features Managing Editor and junior Emily Franklin enjoyed this portion of the event: “I’m happy to have had the opportunity to get advice from experienced journalists.”
Following the panel discussion, students were given the freedom to attend two workshops, hosted either by panelists or students at Adelphi. From “Navigating Journalism in College” to “Writing About Pop Culture,” young journalists who attended Press Day gained new insight into journalistic techniques and how to pursue a career in journalism. For one of her workshops, freshman Isabella Viana attended “Restoring Media Trust,” hosted by Corry. “[The workshop] answered a lot of very important questions about credibility…[Corry] also gave good tips on what to do if you realize you made an informational mistake in both an online and a print article,” Viana explained.
After the workshops, students were led on a campus tour and enjoyed a lunch provided by Adelphi. The students returned home triumphant with their awards and enlightened by the journalism tips they learned.
