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Bernard Kilgore Memorial Scholarship

Dow Jones Newspaper Fund

Sponsored by New Jersey Press Foundation and the Garden State Scholastic Press Association (GSSPA), this scholarship is established to honor Bernard Kilgore, one of the dominant figures at The Wall Street Journal. Applicants are nominated by teachers at schools that are members of GSSPA. Nominees must have served at least two years in some capacity in high school journalism and must have demonstrated the intent to study journalism in college and to pursue a career in journalism.

Key Information

Eligibility Requirements

  • Age/Grade Level:
    Must be high school senior or incoming college freshman
  • Minimum GPA:
    3.0
  • Financial Need:
    Not Mentioned
  • Residence:
    Open to New Jersey residents
  • School:
    Must be a high school senior who attends a high school in New Jersey
  • Major/Career:
    Plan to study journalism/media studies in college and to pursue a career in the media
  • Extracurricular:
    Have participated in high school journalism for at least two years
  • Organization:
    The applicants adviser must be a member of the GSSPA
  • Other Benefits:
    The winner will also become JEAs New Jersey Journalist of the Year, and the portfolio will be entered into the national competition for the JEA National Journalist of the Year.

Application Details

  • Judging Criteria:
    All nominees will be judged by the quality of their work in comparison with the other applicants.
  • Transcript:
    Required
  • Resume/Activity List:
    Not required
  • Essay:
    A self-analytical evaluation of your journalistic life, using your most creative form. Here are some ideas to help you get started on the self-analytical evaluation: How do you feel about journalism? How did you get started in journalism? What have you had to go through to achieve? What have you contributed to journalism? What are your journalism plans for the future?
  • Recommendation Letters:
    Three or four letters of recommendation from your adviser, other teachers who know your leadership and journalistic abilities, and practitioners with whom you have worked. A letter from the principal is desirable, but not absolutely necessary
  • Portfolio/Work Samples:
    Send five copies of your school newspaper or magazine, or photocopies of relevant spreads from your yearbook (not the entire book). Those copies will enable the judges to see the context of your work. Do not send CDs, DVDs, etc.Samples of your work should be carefully selected. Provide the judges with a good cross-section of your best work rather than everything you have produced. Date, name of publication and relevance (see list below) should be on the page with each sample. Ideally, samples should be readable photocopies of published work. Include samples showing one or more of the following characteristics. They should be grouped according to what they represent, and these relevance groupings should be labeled (tape labels securely at the top of the samples). a) Skilled and creative use of media content - writing, production, photography, etc. b) Inquiring mind and investigative persistence resulting in in-depth study or studies of issues important to the local high school audience, high school students in general, and/or society. c) Courageous and responsible handling of sensitive issues - local or societal - despite any threat or imposure of censorship. d) Variety of journalistic experiences, each handled in a quality manner - newspaper, yearbook, broadcast, photography,Web design, other design work, community and other out-of-school journalistic work, etc.
  • Other Materials:
    One action photo of you doing something journalistic - interviewing someone, designing a page, taking a photo or talking to your staff (this is optional)

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