News stories and photos by six SC&I students, published in The Daily Targum, covering subjects as broad as free speech, diversity, equity and inclusion, and Rutgers comedy and sports, have received prestigious New Jersey Press Association (NJPA) Awards this year.

“These students have been able to take the journalistic lessons they learned in our classrooms and successfully apply them in a real-world environment,” said Professor of Professional Practice and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Journalism and Media Studies Steve Miller. “The quality of their writing and research is a testament to their talent and dedication to the craft.  These awards are just the first step in what could be very successful careers.”

Sponsored by the New Jersey Press Foundation, the 2024-2025 New Jersey College Newspaper Contest is open to all New Jersey student-run college newspapers and digital news organizations. According to the foundation, “All New Jersey college newspapers – print and digital – are encouraged to enter the New Jersey College Newspaper Contest, which honors the skills of their student staff members in journalistic writing, photography and design.” The contest has two divisions – four-year colleges and two-year colleges – which are judged separately.

This year’s contest period ran from March 1, 2024 – February 28, 2025, and, according to the foundation, entries were “judged by active and retired editors, senior reporters, photographers and graphic artists from New Jersey daily and weekly newspapers” who “selected first, second and third place winners in each category,” and granted awards “only when they believe that special recognition is warranted.”

“These students have been able to take the journalistic lessons they learned in our classrooms and successfully apply them in a real-world environment,” said Professor of Professional Practice and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Journalism and Media Studies Steve Miller. “The quality of their writing and research is a testament to their talent and dedication to the craft.  These awards are just the first step in what could be very successful careers.”

“I'm honored to receive this award for my work,” said senior Joel Pesantez, who won in the Arts & Entertainment/Critical Writing Category. “When I first came to Rutgers, I was on a completely different career path. But on a whim, I registered for a class in the School of Communication and Information — and I was hooked. The incredible support from professors and peers cultivated a community where I feel like I was able to challenge myself and come into my own.”

Winning in the photography category, Evan Leong MCM’25, ITI, DCIM’23, said, "SC&I courses have been crucial to my development as a photojournalist. Graduate classes like Digital Media Production allow me to shoot videos for legitimate clients. Through these shoots, I've learned to think on my feet and solve problems on location. All shoots — photo and video — require adaptability. My NJPA photo submissions reflect this learned skill, as I adjusted to an unfamiliar shooting environment to capture emotion, tell stories, and highlight overlooked moments."

Camden Markel JMS'25 and Josh Meyers JMS, DCIM'25 won in the sports writing category. Markel, who is currently interning with the New York Post as a sports writer and hopes to leverage his experience there to land a full-time role with the Post or elsewhere, said, “SC&I has helped me tremendously. I came to Rutgers with essentially no journalism experience, but felt like I had a grasp on things in no time after beginning my classes. When it comes to sports writing, I've always had the sports knowledge and interest, but SC&I helped me hone the skills required of me to a different level. Multimedia sports reporting class with Professor Joe Rivera immediately comes to mind as a course that particularly helped me out a ton. Rivera graduated from Rutgers himself and has a multitude of experience in journalism. He and the entirety of the SCI faculty bring their professional-world experience directly to the classroom to greatly help students. I'm incredibly grateful for SCI!”

Meyers said, “I am super proud to have received this award for my hard work as a student sports journalist. It is super rewarding to know that the skills I have developed through my SC&I classes were paid off in a big way.”

Jesse Singer JMS'25 said, "Receiving this award is the culmination of my dedication and hard work this year. Transitioning from exercise science to Journalism and Media Studies was a significant shift, but joining SC&I provided me with invaluable opportunities to connect with professors and peers who encouraged me to get involved. Through their support, I quickly became a contributor to Inside Beat and eventually took on the role of editorial assistant. I am deeply proud to receive this recognition, especially considering the relatively short time I've been with the Targum."

2025 NJPA Awardees

Arts & Entertainment/Critical Writing Category

Joel Pesantez JMS’25, second place for “College Avenue Players work their magic with 'Wacky Hijinks'”

Editorial Writing Category

Jesse Singer JMS’25, third place for two op-eds:  "EDITORIAL: Tick Tock TikTok: Trump's free speech" and "EDITORIAL: Trump rollbacks DEI: How minority students are affected."

Photography Category

• Evan Leong MCM’25, ITI, DCIM’23, third place for his photos: “Celebrate; Focus; Joy; Strategize.”
• Christian Sanchez ITI’25, second place in for: “The Look of Cheer; The Look of Enjoyment; The Look of Teammates; The Look of Victory.”

Sports Writing Category

• Senior Camden Markel JMS’25, first place for "Harper does Harper things: Dylan Harper sinks buzzer-beater to take down Seton Hall."
• Senior Josh Meyers JMS, DCIM’25, third place for “Rattled at Rate Bowl: Diving into Rutgers football's heartbreaking postseason loss to Kansas State.”

Read more about this year’s awardees in The Daily Targum.

Learn more about the Journalism and Media Studies major, the Information Technology and Informatics (ITI) major, the Digital Communication, Information and Media minor, and the  Master of Communication and Media (MCM) on the Rutgers School of Communication and Information website.