Each year, UC Journalism inducts distinguished alumni into its Hall of Fame, recognizing excellence in journalism, media, or contributions to the program. The Young Alumni Award, presented during the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, honors recent graduates whose rising careers show strong potential for future induction.
UC Journalism students making and breaking news.
Photo from Mackenzie Collett's post about being part of the creation of a TV News Segment
December 12, 2024
University of Cincinnati photojournalism student Mayea Salmon parlayed an internship at a sports apparel company into a job offer.
September 23, 2024
Like many undergraduate students, Brianna Connock’s college path took an unexpected turn. When she enrolled in the American Journalism course to fulfill a political science degree, she found herself reconsidering what she wanted her career path to look like. Did she want to give up her progress towards a political science degree to replace it with her newfound interest in journalism? Or did she want to stick with what she started?
August 1, 2023
German Lopez entered college undecided. Flash forward 10 years, and he now writes for The New York Times, ranked among the best newspapers in the world. The 2012 University of Cincinnati grad faced an increasingly competitive journalism field, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that the field will continue to shrink between 2021 and 2031.
May 14, 2021
By Haley Parnell [INTERIOR CAPTION AND PHOTO CREDIT] Description of image here. Photo/Credit goes here. “I think the biggest thing that I learned at the University of Cincinnati was, it’s really important to go do,” says Tom Demeropolis, a 2007 graduate of UC’s journalism program and a senior reporter with the Cincinnati Business Courier. “You’ve got to be able to show potential employers that you can do the work,” he says. The journalism program encourages students like Demeropolis to apply classroom learning to hands-on experience like writing for The News Record (TNR), UC’s student-run media organization. This kind of training helps prepare students for internships, professional networking and later, career success.
July 26, 2021
By Nailah Edwards From the age of 15, Meghan Goth knew she wanted to pursue a career in journalism. She was inspired by the creative writing and journalism classes she took during middle school and high school in Denver, Colorado with teacher Elektra Greer. “(She) did a fantastic job of fostering my love of writing,” Goth said. Goth is now the senior manager of the enterprise/investigative team of WCPO-TV in Cincinnati, where she manages the I-Team and enterprise reporters. Goth and her family moved to Cincinnati when she was 16. She returned to Colorado to attend the University of Colorado in Boulder, but she decided to finish her degree at the University of Cincinnati, where she studied journalism and minored in French in the College of Arts & Sciences.
July 2, 2021
By Jason Szelest From a young age, Keith Jenkins loved to write. He remembers in kindergarten, while other children would play with blocks and Legos, he would sit at a writing table, working on his penmanship. Before his teenage years, Jenkins had already begun to stand out as a writer, winning an essay contest in the sixth grade. “The first-, second- and third-place winners got to read their essays in front of the whole school,” Jenkins said. “I was hyped to read mine when the other two winners were so nervous. That’s when I really knew I loved to write, and I loved to speak.” Jenkins went on to major in journalism in UC’s College of Arts and Sciences, and become editor in chief of The News Record, UC’s student-run media organization. Today, he is a sports reporter for The Cincinnati Enquirer, where he covers UC athletics. But journalism was not the first career choice for Jenkins. His father played professional football, and his own accomplishments on the gridiron at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati led to a football scholarship at the University of Toledo.
September 20, 2021
Saleha Mohsin, the first student to graduate from the University of Cincinnati’s journalism program, knew from a young age that she wanted to do for a career. “My mom actually told me when I was 15, ‘I think you're going to be a journalist’,” she said. But when she enrolled at UC, the university did not have a journalism program – just a handful of journalism courses housed in the university’s English program. So she enrolled in 2001 first as an undecided student and then as an English major in the College of Arts and Sciences. It was during that first year when Mohsin became involved in the campus newspaper, The News Record.
June 16, 2021
By Olive Collins Niesz Maija Zummo has lived the dream of every journalism student: She rose in the ranks of the publication that gave her a start as an intern to become its editor-in-chief. Since she graduated in 2006 from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Arts and Sciences with a degree in journalism, Zummo has become one of the best-known voices in Cincinnati journalism as editor-in-chief of Cincinnati’s alt-weekly publication, CityBeat. “Maija arrived at UC with a virtual suitcase full of skills, the creativity of polished poet, and the gumption and confidence to go after her dreams,” says Jenny Wohlfarth, UC educator journalism professor. Studying journalism wasn’t part of Zummo’s plans when she enrolled at UC. She intended to study Classics for her undergraduate degree and attend veterinary school for her graduate degree. Then she took a newswriting and reporting course and promptly fell in love with journalism.
