ASU Cronkite School wins top honors at Hearst Journalism Awards


August 1, 2022

Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication placed third overall in the 2021–22 Hearst Journalism Awards program and scored in the top five in writing, photojournalism and television categories.

The program, often referred to as the Pulitzers of college journalism, holds monthly contests for writing, audio, television, photojournalism and multimedia reporting, culminating with a national championship competition in those categories in late spring.  Close-up of the Hearst Award, a shiny, circular medallian featuring the bust of William Randolph Hearst. Download Full Image

Journalism schools that win top honors receive prize money while winning students are awarded scholarships.

In the overall category, the top three schools were the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Florida and Arizona State University. 

ASU also scored third place for photojournalism, fourth in the writing category, fourth for audio and television, and eighth for multimedia. 

After the monthly contests, Cronkite School student Alberto Mariani and recent graduate Kiera Riley were selected to compete in the 2022 Hearst National Journalism Awards Championship, during which winners of the individual competitions faced off in a live competition that consisted of reporting, writing and photographing stories.

Mariani placed third in the Photojournalism championship and was awarded a $5,000 scholarship, as well as a Hearst Medallion. He also received an additional $1,000 scholarship after receiving Best Portfolio from the semifinals. 

Mariani previously placed first in the Photojournalism I category for news and features in the monthly competition. 

“Being able to participate in the Hearst Awards National Competition was an incredible experience, and to win something at the end of it made it even more special. However, the most enriching part of the championship was meeting and hanging out with five other extremely talented photographers, as well as the opportunity to talk to and share ideas with some of the most capable editors and professionals in the industry,” Mariani said.

Riley received a $1,500 scholarship after being named a finalist in the Writing category. She also received an additional $1,000 after her story was named Article of the Year. Riley placed second in the monthly competition for the Features category for her story “Dubbing ‘Star Wars: A New Hope’ into Navajo Language”  before being selected for the championship.

“Being a Hearst finalist was the highlight of my college career. I had the privilege of meeting and learning from some of the most talented journalists in the field. It was such an honor,” Riley said. 

Students who placed in the monthly competitions are as follows:

Photojournalism I – News and Features 

  • 1st: Alberto Mariani, Photo Collection, Cronkite News.
  • 13th: Samantha Chow, Photo Collection, Cronkite News.

Features

Photojournalism II – Picture Story/Series

Exploratory Writing

Television II – News

Sports

Multimedia Narrative Video Storytelling

Multimedia Narrative Video Storytelling

Personality/Profile Writing

Audio News/Features

Television Features

Multimedia Digital News/Enterprise Story

Multimedia Innovative Storytelling and Audience Engagement

Story written by Connor Fries

Expert in theater and dance for the very young to join ASU as assistant professor


August 2, 2022

The School of Music, Dance and Theatre at Arizona State University welcomes new faculty member Amanda Pintore as assistant professor of theater for youth and community and acting.

Pintore, who earned her MFA in theater for youth from ASU, is an artist, director, choreographer, creator and educator. She specializes in arts integration, creative facilitation strategies and training in teaching artistry. While working at the Lawrence Arts Center in Kansas, Pintore founded the Theatre and Dance for the Very Young program there. She also served as chair of the Theatre and Dance for the Very Young Conference — the first-ever conference of its kind. She will be working with ASU students in both the theater for youth and community and acting programs. Portrait of ASU Assistant Professor Amanda Pintore. Amanda Pintore Download Full Image

“We are thrilled to welcome Amanda Pintore back to ASU,” said Heather Landes, director of the School of Music, Dance and Theatre. “Her expertise in teaching artistry, theater and dance for the very young, devising with youth and their caregivers, arts integration and creative facilitation strategies adds critical content to our offerings and enhances learning opportunities for our students in theater for youth and community, acting and in all our education programs in the school.”

During the pandemic, Pintore found creative methods for bringing theater and dance to children and families, including outdoor, drive-in and virtual interactive productions. She served as lead researcher and director for “Hubbub,” a virtual participatory performance that engaged children up to 6 years old and their families. During research sessions, they explored sounds, noises and words to develop the interactive performance enjoyed by families in 14 states and five countries.

Pintore’s passion for the arts and creativity started as a teen in Omaha, Nebraska. She spent her summers performing, working as an intern and student-directing at The Rose Theater.

“That was the early spark,” Pintore said, “then throughout undergrad, every summer I would intern at different children's theaters across the U.S., and that path eventually led me to getting my MFA at ASU.”

She said she is excited to be returning to Arizona, bringing with her new experiences and connections.

“What I love about this field is that I've really been allowed to evolve over and over again. I'm excited to come back and be a different person than I was the first time I was there, in the best way possible,” Pintore said. “Now the world is different, and I’m different. I’m going to come into it with open eyeballs and open ears.”

She said she is looking forward to working with students and helping them collaborate with others.

“A lot of people helped me along the way, and so I'm really excited about working with the students — whether they want to be educators, practitioners or researchers — and being as useful as I can in helping them connect with the field at large,” Pintore said. “I'm eager to see what might be possible with collaboration.”

According to Pintore, childhood educators face a big challenge in finding balance and avoiding burnout, and she hopes to help student artists address that.

“I want to help teaching artists learn how to sustainably build that path in a way that they can take care of themselves and also continue to find joy in their work,” she said. 

Her advice for students entering the field: build, observe and respond.

“Planting seeds takes time. I look back now on what I have done in the last five years, and the breadth of what I've done, and I have to re-remind myself of that,” Pintore said. “Breathe into your work, and keep paying attention as you go. Every project feels like the most important thing until it's not.”

Pintore said students need to remember that faculty members are growing and learning as well, and to appreciate the qualities each professor brings to the learning experience.

“I'm delighted for people to not only learn who I am as an educator, but also about the unique, quirky human that I am,” Pintore said. “Humor and play are really built into my foundation. I plan to invite students to be vulnerable, weird, silly, play and to reinvestigate their own relationship with what it means to work with youth or to make things for youth.”

Lacy Chaffee

Media and communications coordinator, School of Music, Dance and Theatre

480-727-5550