Argus Writers Honored at Baruch Journalism Conference

The Argus took home two second place awards and one first place citywide. Photo: Catherine Kaczmarek

By THE ARGUS STAFF

Writers for the Argus won three awards for outstanding high school journalism from the New York Scholastic Press Association at the Baruch College Journalism Conference on April 25.

Tyler Katsura and Nathan Barenbaum won first place citywide in sports writing with “Boys Lacrosse Falls Just Short of Glory,” Jaylen Li, Joseph Wang, and Isabella Mason won second place in feature writing with “Jonathan Haidt’s Plan to Stop Gen Z from Scrolling to Its Doom,” and Joseph Trontz won second place in opinion writing for “Flushing Out the Facts: A Bathroom Breakdown.”

“There were a whole bunch of really good newspapers there,” said Mason. “I was definitely surprised when I won, but also really grateful to see our hard work being rewarded.”

Alongside over 30 other high school newspapers, members of the Argus staff spent the school day on the 14th floor of Baruch’s Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, on 24th and Lexington.

To start the day, students attended two rounds of hour-long workshops focused on writing, reporting, and editing skills. Topics including “What Makes a Great Story,” “Interviewing 101,” and “The Essentials of Photojournalism,” were hosted by professionals, like Bureau Chief of Chalkbeat Amy Zimmer. 

Editor-in-Chief Sabrine Uddin attended the “Opinion Writing” workshop and found herself wrestling with the question of humor’s place in journalism. “What’s taking it too far?” she said. “Humor can make the opinion you’re trying to convey way more impactful, but sometimes it’s not appropriate to be sarcastic and joke around.”

Following lunch, judges began announcing awards across nine categories, each with a Citywide and New Newspaper division. The Townsend Harris Classic came away with the grand prize: Best Overall High School Newspaper.

In the past few years, the Argus has also won recognition from the NYSPA for Illustration, Photography, and National News with a Local Lens.