The Journal won under two categories at the recent John H. MacDonald (JHM) Awards for Excellence in Student Journalism.
Announced on Feb. 26, Senior News Editor Sophia Coppolino, ArtSci ’23, Assistant News Editor Sofia Tosello, ArtSci ’25, and Assistant Photo Editor Joseph Mariathasan, ArtSci ’24, were all recognized by the Canadian University Press.
Joseph Mariathasan, JHM Photojournalist of the Year
Being an English student, Mariathasan always finds himself having to capture moments in writing, and photography gives him an outlet to visualize the things he doesn’t want to write about.
“Instead of having to write down something to tell a story. I’m seeing what I see and just capturing it without having to explain why,” Mariathasan said.
Working at The Journal as the Assistant Photos Editor helped Mariathasan focus his work on telling important stories while uncovering images for other people’s stories rather than just his own.
Mariathasan is grateful to The Journal for granting him access to opportunities he didn’t previously have. He encouraged other students to focus on the quality of their work, and let it speak for itself.
“Before this year, I never really thought of journalism as a career. Now I’m finding ways to get myself places because that’s the most important thing. The Journal has just allowed me to go places around Kingston that I barely walked in the city before this year,” Mariathasan said.
Sophia Coppolino & Sofia Tosello, News Reporting Award
Coppolino and Tosello took home the JHM for News Reporting for their article “Queen’s engineering exam question tweeted by Jordan Peterson.” The article discussed an exam question negatively impacting engineering students in the LGBTQ+ community.
“It was great to see The Journal recognized on a national level and stand out from all the other student newspapers that have journalism schools,” Coppolino said in an interview.
On the masthead as an Assistant News Editor for Vol. 150, Coppolino sees her job as a way of giving back to the Queen’s community, which has given her so much over her five years as a student.
“My approach to journalism is very people-focused and that’s something I hope every story I’ve ever written demonstrates. The priority for me is people,” Coppolino said.
Tosello discovered her passion for journalism during high school, travelling to Washington D.C. to learn at the School of the New York Times. There, she shadowed a New York Times journalist and became hooked on the exciting and fast-paced world of news reporting.
“I would say it’s impacted my life because I’ve just become a lot more aware of the world around me and what’s happening. In turn, that means I can put forth productive solutions to problems because I’m well aware of them as a result of my reporting,” Tosello said.
While writing their story, Coppolino and Tosello wanted to highlight more than the questionable exam question and the online rhetoric it generated; their focus was on understanding the impact of the questions on students. EngiQueers’ decision to go on record grounded the story in a people-focused approach, Coppolino said.
With one piece combining their love of writing, community involvement, and journalism, both authors are proud to be sharing this award.
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Award, JHM, JHM awards, The Journal
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