The USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and the National Arts Journalism Program are pleased to announce the results of voting for projects entered in the National Summit on Arts Journalism, held Oct. 2 at USC Annenberg.
First Prize of $7,500 goes to Glasstire of Texas. Second Prize of $5,000 goes to FLYP Media of New York City. Third Prize of $2,500 goes to San Francisco Classical Voice. Additionally, all three projects, along with finalists Departures (a project of KCET in Los Angeles) and Flavorpill, previously were awarded $2,000 each for being chosen finalists for the National Arts Journalism Program.
Voters are members of the National Arts Journalism Program and alumni of the National Endowment for the Arts’ Arts Journalism Institutes.
“Each of the projects presented at the Summit represents an aspect of the changing nature of arts journalism,” said Summit co-director and journalism professor Sasha Anawalt (pictured). “These are challenging times for journalism, but the creativity and level of commitment to reinventing the ways that the arts are covered is inspiring."
“We began with the basic premise that good journalism will continue,” said Summit co-director Douglas McLennan. “Great work is being done in many places. Our hope here was to explore some of the issues facing journalism and highlight some of the creative ways in which people are trying to address them. I think that the range of projects and ideas testifies to this."
Ten innovative models of the next generation of arts journalism were presented at the Summit. Five of the projects, chosen from among 109 submissions in response to an open call earlier this summer competed for a total of $15,000 in prize money, courtesy of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The five other “demonstration” projects were not included in the competition; they offered ideas both from inside and outside arts journalism that touch on finding new models to support arts journalism.
Primarily a virtual event, the Summit was streamed live from Annenberg Auditorium in front of a live audience, and thousands of viewers from around the world watched and participated via text chat and Twitter. All ten presentations are archived and available on the Summit website: www.najp.org/summit. Videos from the Summit have been viewed more than 10,000 times so far.
Brief Background on the Summit:
The Summit was conceived as a virtual public event with the goal of reaching the widest possible audience of those who care about arts journalism. In addition to co-directors Anawalt and McLennan, the National Summit on Arts Journalism was executive-produced by Jackie Kain.
Sponsors:
The National Summit on Arts Journalism, an affiliated event of USC Visions and Voices, is made possible with major support from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the generous support of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the University of Southern California’s College of Letters, Arts & Sciences, School of Cinematic Arts, Roski School of Fine Arts, Thornton School of Music, School of Theatre, Fisher Museum, the Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy, Online Journalism Review, and the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.
About the National Arts Journalism Program
Since 1994, the National Arts Journalism Program (NAJP) has sought to advance arts and cultural news coverage. The NAJP is a membership organization that works to: advocate for arts reporting and criticism, improve the quality and increase the quantity of arts journalism, inform the public and the media industry of standards of excellence in arts journalism, support and mentor arts journalists, provide a network for arts journalists in all disciplines and help develop standards and viable economic models for arts journalism in emerging digital media.
About the NEA Arts Journalism Institutes
The NEA Arts Journalism Institutes are a series of intensive, introductory professional training programs for journalists who cover dance, theater and musical theater, classical music and opera and visual art. To date, more than 250 journalists from all 50 states — representing print and broadcast organizations, as well as independent writers —have participated in the program, which has received universal acclaim from participants, faculty and arts organizations.
