Eleven NYC Public High Schools Win Top Prizes at The Newsies

April 3, 2023

NEW YORK, New York  –– The only competition for excellence specifically in NYC public high school journalism – The Newsies at Baruch College – has announced the award program’s 2023 winners.

Eleven high schools, in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, received awards. The 2023 winning high schools include:

• Bronx River High School
• Columbia Secondary School
• Edward R. Murrow High School
• Francis Lewis High School
• Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics
• Midwood High School
• Pace High School
• Queens School of Inquiry
• Stuyvesant High School
• The Laboratory School of Finance and Technology
• Townsend Harris High School

Developed at Baruch, The Newsies Best in NYC Public High School Journalism Awards celebrate outstanding student journalism across nine categories, including feature writing, illustration/comics/cartoon, multimedia reporting, national/world news with a local lens, opinion/editorial writing, photojournalism, sports writing, and best online newspaper.

The competition is judged by prominent journalism experts.

See the Complete List of 2023 Newsies Winners and Judges’ Bios

Winning schools received plaques and winning student journalists received medals and award certificates. In addition, with funding from the Charles H. Revson Foundation, the eleven high schools that won first and second place Newsies will each receive a monetary award to use in support of their newspaper programs.

Martha King, senior program officer at the Charles H. Revson Foundation, said, “The Revson Foundation is very proud to support The Newsies at Baruch College and the mission to make high school newspaper programs more accessible and available in New York City public schools. Student journalism is unparalleled civics in action and much needed to prepare New York’s next generation of local journalists and civic leaders.”

73% of NYC Public High Schools Don’t Have Student Newspapers

This year’s Newsies awards come at a time when most New York City public high schools don’t have newspapers. According to a new study, conducted by Baruch’s flagship High School Journalism Program (HSJP) with support from the Google News Initiative – there are significant disparities in access to student newspaper programs by borough, socioeconomic status, and race.

Key findings include:

• Just 27% of public high schools citywide have student newspapers.
• Schools less likely to have student newspapers are those with:
  • High poverty rates
  • Higher percentages of Black and Hispanic students
  • Locations in the Bronx and Brooklyn
  • Lower four-year graduation rates

• Schools more likely to have student newspapers are those with:
  • Low poverty rates
  • Higher percentages of White and Asian students
  • Higher four-year graduation rates

For complete findings, read Haves and Have Nots: Newspaper Prevalence Among NYC Public High Schools.

How Baruch Helps NYC Public High Schools Launch Newspapers

In addition to producing The Newsies Awards and organizing an annual conference for NYC high school student journalists and teacher-newspaper advisors – where the Newsies winners are announced – Baruch’s High School Journalism Program provides educational and incentivizing programming to help high schools that don’t have newspapers create newspaper programs.

The program partnered with the Google News Initiative in 2022.  Google’s support enabled the Haves and Have Nots report and the expansion and improvement of journalism programming for high schools in New York City. “Google is proud to support the Baruch New York City High School Journalism Program and the High School Journalism Conference” said Ashley Edwards, U.S. Partnerships Manager in the Google News Lab. “We believe that journalism is essential to a healthy democracy, and we are committed to helping students develop the skills they need to be successful journalists. We believe that every student should have the opportunity to learn about journalism and media literacy.”

With Google’s support, Baruch’s HSJP offers an online “Launching a High School Newspaper” course to NYC public high school teachers free of charge. Schools that launch successful student newspapers after their teachers complete the Baruch College HSJP course receive a special $1,000 honorarium to support their new newspaper programs, funded by the Charles H. Revson Foundation.

Four of the high schools that won first or second place Newsies in 2023 recently launched newspapers during or shortly after participating in the course.

Baruch’s HSJP works in collaboration with Press Pass NYC, which offers free resources and training to student journalists and newspaper advisors.

In addition to the funding from the Google News Initiative and the Charles H. Revson Foundation, Baruch’s HSJP receives grant support from the David and Katherine Moore Family Foundation and has received past support from the Harnisch Foundation.

Professor and Attorney Geanne Belton, who is the lead faculty member at the helm of Baruch’s HSJP, emphasized the transformative impact of a high school newspaper program in her Haves and Have Nots research report.

According to Professor Belton, “Among the opportunities a school newspaper program offers to students: Leadership experience; high school community-building; experiential learning regarding news literacy and the value of fact-based news information; experiential learning regarding the role and responsibilities of a free press in a democracy; critical skills development including writing, editing, analytical thinking, factchecking and verification, online research, photography, videography, responsible publishing, news judgment, illustration, multimedia, interviewing and meeting deadlines; and general work skills including public speaking, team building and participation, organization and prioritizing, time management, collaboration, and positive and productive social media engagement.”

About Baruch College
Bernard M. Baruch College of The City University of New York—renowned for its rich tradition of academic excellence, accessibility, and outcomes—is one of the country’s top-performing colleges for its role as an engine of opportunity for students from every corner of New York, the nation, and the world. Representing 155 countries and speaking more than 100 languages, Baruch’s student population is among the most diverse in the United States. As a vital nexus of aspiration and opportunity, the College empowers students to transform their futures, their professions, and their communities.

About the Charles H. Revson Foundation

The Charles H. Revson Foundation operates grant programs in Urban Affairs, Jewish Life, Biomedical Research, and Education.

Media Contact

Liam Ben Zur: liam.benzur@baruch.cuny.edu

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