PULLMAN, Wash. – The Asian American Journalists Association’s Seattle chapter awarded the 2020 Northwest Journalists of Color Visual Journalism scholarship to a Murrow College student.
Angelica Relente, a senior studying journalism and media production at Murrow College, won the NJC scholarship and was one of seven students statewide to also receive an AAJA Seattle Founders’ Scholarship.
“Angelica has excelled both in the classroom and in extracurricular activities, including as editor of The Daily Evergreen,” said Benjamin Shors, chair of the Journalism and Media Production Department and a scholarly associate professor at Murrow College. “She’s a fantastic journalist and a worthy recipient of this award.”
In addition to serving as editor of The Daily Evergreen, Relente was part of a team of Murrow students that won a Northwest Emmy for its work during the Rural Reporting Plunge, where students reported on rural communities throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Relente also helped launch Coronavirus Campus News (CCN) this past spring, where student journalists launched a pop-up news site and Twitter page devoted to reporting the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on university communities and student life.
“Angelica is a talented and determined journalist who’s stepped up as a student leader,” said Lisa Waananen Jones, a scholarly assistant professor at Murrow College. “It’s gratifying to see her accomplishments and potential recognized by professional journalists.”
Founded in 1981, the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a non-profit professional and educational organization with more than 1,600 members. Since 1985, Seattle’s AAJA chapter has provided scholarships for students, professional development for journalists and service to the community in the Pacific Northwest.
“People of color remain underrepresented in journalism, and particularly in visual journalism and news leadership,” Waananen Jones said. “The result is that newsrooms do not reflect the diversity of the communities they cover, and images we see in news provide a limited perspective on the world. We are grateful the Seattle chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association is so supportive of students entering the field of journalism. This commitment to students strengthens the news industry in the Northwest.”
For a full list of AAJA’s NJC scholarship winners, click here.