Baruch College Hosts 2026 “Newsies” Awards as New Generation of Student Newsrooms Earns Citywide Honors
Seventeen NYC public high schools recognized; student journalists honored across 10 categories at annual conferenceApril 28, 2026
Baruch College hosted the 2026 Newsies Awards on Friday, April 24, recognizing outstanding high school journalism produced by students across New York City. Presented as part of Baruch’s annual NYC Public High School Journalism Conference, the event brought together student journalists and educators from all five boroughs for a day of workshops and high school newspaper-related conversations among some 200 student journalists and teacher-advisors from 26 NYC public high schools, culminating in an awards ceremony at the William and Anita Newman Conference Center.
A total of 37 awards were presented in 10 categories, including school and community news, localized national and international reporting, illustration, opinion, feature writing, photojournalism, audio/visual reporting, local arts reporting, sports writing, and best high school newspaper. Seventeen public high schools were recognized for excellence in reporting, writing, and multimedia storytelling.
How the Newsies Awards Work
The Newsies Awards are structured across two divisions:
- Regular Division for established student publications
- New Newspaper Division for programs launched after 2020
First-place winners in each division advanced to compete for citywide honors, awarded to the strongest entry overall in each category.
Top Citywide Winners
Among this year’s citywide winners representing the highest level of student journalism in New York City:
- Townsend Harris High School — Best High School Newspaper; Arts; Audio/Visual
- NYC iSchool — Feature Writing
- Midwood High School — Opinion; Illustration
- Bronx River High School — National/International Reporting; Sports Writing
- Forest Hills High School — Photojournalism
- Francis Lewis High School — School/Community News
From Launch to Citywide Recognition
One of the most notable stories this year came from Bronx River High School, whose student newspaper, The Bronx River News, launched in 2021 as Bronx River High School Teacher Deborah Porterfield participated in Baruch College’s “Launching a High School Newspaper” initiative.
Developed and taught by Baruch College Professor Geanne Belton, the “Launching a High School Newspaper” course for NYC public high school teachers began as a 10-session course designed to support NYC public high schools without newspapers in their effort to launch new newspapers, free of charge. Over three years, the initiative contributed to the launch of 17 new student publications across the city, supported in part by the Google News Initiative and the Charles H. Revson Foundation and in collaboration with Press Pass NYC.
In 2026, Bronx River High School earned two citywide awards, successfully competing against long-established student publications—demonstrating the growing strength and impact of newer journalism programs.
Building the Next Generation of Student Journalists
“We applaud the efforts and talents of NYC public high school student journalists and their teacher-newspaper advisors,” said Geanne Belton, professor and director of Baruch College’s High School Journalism Program. “They ensure NYC high school journalism programs are successful and beneficial for all participants and their school communities at a time when journalism and journalism education are more important than ever before. We are thrilled each year at Baruch College to recognize and celebrate the best in NYC public high school journalism. We also greatly appreciate the contributions of the exceptional journalists and journalism educators who judge the Newsies awards and lead workshops at our conference as well as contributions from our Baruch and CUNY Newmark colleagues and Press Pass NYC.”
The program continues to build momentum following increased attention to disparities in access to high school journalism opportunities. Baruch College plans to collaborate with partner organizations later this year to gather updated data on the availability and reach of journalism programs across NYC public schools.
Supporting Student Journalism Throughout New York City
The Newsies Awards are supported in part by the Charles H. Revson Foundation, which has helped expand access to journalism education and NYC student media programs.
“Baruch’s Newsies Awards bring well-deserved and much needed citywide recognition to outstanding and impactful high school journalism,” said Martha King, Program Director, Charles H. Revson Foundation. The student journalists being honored are improving their schools and communities while helping to ensure the next generation will embrace journalism and community participation. We need more efforts like the Newsies to encourage high school journalism and to protect our fourth estate now and into the future.”
“I’m so proud of the Bronx River News staff. They are an enthusiastic group of young journalists who display a sense of curiosity, persistence and attention to telling details,” said Deborah Porterfield, Newspaper Advisor, Bronx River News. “They deeply appreciate the support and encouragement they have received from their school, Press Pass NYC, Baruch College and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. I am hopeful this recognition will inspire other schools in the Bronx and elsewhere to support scholastic reporting. Every high school has stories worth telling.”
Conference Programming Included Journalism and AI Session
The awards ceremony followed a day of journalism education programming, including a plenary session on journalism and artificial intelligence and approximately 14 breakout workshops led by journalists and educators from across New York City.
Full List of Winners
The conference program agenda and a complete list of 2026 Newsies Awards winners are available at:
https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/hsjournalism/
About the Baruch College High School Journalism Program
The Baruch College High School Journalism Program helps support and incentivize NYC public high school student journalists and their educators with its journalism conference and awards recognizing the best in NYC public high school journalism.