MIPA’s Aspiring Young Journalist contest annually recognizes Michigan’s top middle school student journalists. This contest honors work from junior high/middle school students and is designed to encourage them to continue to pursue journalism in high school. To enter, students must assemble a portfolio of their journalistic work from middle school.
One overall winner will be selected each year. Judges may also recognize runners-up. The overall winner will continue on to national competition representing Michigan in the Journalism Education Association Aspiring Journalist contest.
Each MIPA member middle school program may submit one candidate for consideration.
Deadline
Feb. 14, 2025. Late entries will not be accepted. Candidates will be notified via email by April 1 about whether they were selected.
Entry Criteria
The entrant must:
- Be in their final grade of middle school (eighth grade for most schools or ninth grade for 7-9 middle school programs) and at least 13 years old.
- Plan to continue the study of and participation in journalism in high school.
- Have been in a junior high or middle school journalism program for at least one year.
- Be selected as the nominee of a MIPA member media program.
- Submit examples of their journalistic work via the official application form.
Entry Checklist
The applicant must submit the following via the official application form:
- Two photos of the applicant. File should be a .JPG
- One photo should be an action shot showing the applicant doing journalism
- One photo should be a head shot that clearly shows the applicant’s face – like what you would find in the portrait section of a yearbook
- Letter of introduction from the applicant. This letter must be typed and should be no more than two pages in length. Upload a PDF. Be sure to include:
- Your current role in your school’s student media program
- How long you’ve been involved in journalism/media at your school
- How working in journalism has impacted your life
- Future goals and aspirations in journalism and media, including your plans to participate in a high school media program (which may include newspaper, yearbook, broadcast, online medai or an introduction to journalism course). Be specfiic. In which courses do you plan to enroll? During which high school year and semester will you enroll
- Resume. Content in a resume traditioanlly includes the person’s address, education, journalism experience, extracurricular activities, hobbies/interests, clubs/sports, community service and references. In most cases, a resume will be only 1 page (references may be included on a second page.) Upload a PDF.
- Two to three letters of recommendation. One must be from the media program teacher/adviser. Other letters should be by someone (other than your parent) who can discuss your journalism accomplishments. No letter should exceed two pages in length. Upload as PDFs. Paper letters can be scanned using a phone app such as Adobe Scan.. What if the person writing a letter wants to send it directly to MIPA?
- Three to five examples of the applicant’s journalistic work with an explanation of each written by the applicant. Written explanations should include why the student chose the example, what the student did to create the example, what the student learned while creating it, what the student might do differently in creating a similar piece in the future. Work examples may be submitted as links to content hosted online or as PDFs.
- Short essay/writing sample answering the question, “What is the importance and benefit of middle school journalism programs?” Limit two pages. Upload as a PDF.
Judging
Portfolios will be judged by a committee of MIPA advisers. Judges may not have a student competing in the contest. Are you an adviser interested in judging Aspiring Student Journalist porfolios? Contact ask@mipamsu.org at least one week prior to the contest deadline to be assigned to a judging committee.
The following categories will be given a score (1-4) based on quality, scope and impact.
- Skilled and creative use of media.
- Inquiring mind and investigative persistence.
- Courageous and responsible handling of issues.
- Variety of journalistic experiences.
- Sustained and commendable work with school media.
Ratings
- 4 = Exemplary
- 3 = Excellent
- 2 = Fair
- 1 = Adequate
Criteria
- Quality: Does the material presented in this portfolio demonstrate superior quality of work in the category over a period of time?
- Scope: Does the material presented in this portfolio demonstrate a wide range of quality work in the category over a period of time?
- Impact: Does the material presented in this portfolio document the impact of this student’s journalistic work in the category over a period of time?
Submit a Portfolio
Please review instructions and have all materials prepared before starting the application.
Submit Your ApplicationTips & Help
Do I have to be enrolled in a journalism class right away during my first year in high school?
No. MIPA understands that some high schools don’t allow first-year students to take journalism classes, or you may not have room in your schedule right away. Briefly discuss your plans in your introductory letter.
What should I include on my resume? Is there a particular format I should use?
Your resume might include address, education, journalism experience, extracurricular activities, hobbies/interests, clubs/sports, community service and references. The focus should be on your activities and achievements in scholastic journalism. This could include the positions you have held on your student media outlet, awards and recognition you have received, journalism-related workshops and trainings you have attended and more. You may also choose to include jobs and volunteer activities that showcase your leadership and/or community involvement.
Choose quality over quantity when selecting what information to put on your resume. Make sure your resume is neat and organized. In the professional world, most journalist’s resumes are only one page.
Can my portfolio include work that I have done outside of school?
Yes.
Do all of the materials in my portfolio need to have been published?
No. In most cases, judges will view published work (or work slated for future publication, such as the upcoming yearbook) more favorably than work that has not been published and will not be published.
But, maybe you have a great essay about something journalism-related, or materials you put together to promote student press rights to your school board, or an amazing research project on media literacy, or a great presentation that you did to the local Rotary. You can still include those kinds of materials, but make sure it’s clear in the required explanation/reasoning for each piece why it’s included in your portfolio.
What should be included in the explanation/reasoning for each portfolio item?
The explanation/reasoning includes the applicant’s explanation about the specific assignment. What makes it a great example of your work? Did you encounter any difficulties in completing it? How is this item special? When was it published or created, and for what publication/program/etc.?
Explanation should be brief (less than 100 words), easy to read and should explain why this entry is important and was chosen for the portfolio.
If you were asked to describe why you’re proud of a specific work, what would you say? That’s a great starting point for the written explanation in your portfolio.
Who should I have write a letter of recommendation?
One letter must be from your media program adviser/teacher. For the second letter, candidates should ask those who know them best and can speak to the significance of their journalism experience. This might include professional journalist mentors, other teachers or administrators, your peers and others. But be sure they can speak intelligently and with authority to your work as a student journalist – not merely to how great you are personally or as a student.
People who can speak with authority about you because of their experiences with you often are more valuable for letters of recommendations than people who have important titles but don’t know you very well.
Can the person writing a letter of recommendation send it directly to MIPA?
We prefer the person writing a letter of recommendation give their letter directly to you so that you can upload it with your application. If the letter is submitted separately from your application, it’s possible that it might not arrive by the deadline or it could get misplaced and never read by our reviewers.
We do not consider these letters as confidential or secret, and we will share any letter we receive directly back with the student. If a letter writer is not willing to share with you what they wrote about you, your application might be better served by a letter of recommendation from someone else.
I have paper documents (transcript, letters, etc.) that I need to upload electronically with my application. How do I do that?
If you need to convert paper documents to an electronic format (we generally prefer PDF for such documents), we like the Adobe Scan app. It’s free, available for iOS and Android devices, and can integrate with a Creative Cloud account, if you have one.
Your school might also have a copy machine that scans paper documents into PDFs. Check with your adviser.