Fox News offers contest

For the chance to win a $20,000 award and appear on national TV, broadcast journalism students can enter the Fox News College Challenge, a nationwide contest where groups of students research, write and produce an objective broadcast news story. \n"The mission of the competition is to recognize, encourage and support excellence among broadcast journalism students in America's colleges and universities," said John Malkin, vice president of affiliate sales and marketing for Fox News and an IU alumnus. \nGroups of two to four juniors and seniors can produce a short broadcast piece on a variety of topics, anything from televised executions to whether or not the draft should be reinstated. \n"The topics are hot today -- everyone in America is talking about them," Malkin said. "These are news topics that are topical and relevant today. They are topics that test students to really look at them, select the most interesting one, the one that most encourages them to cover both sides of the story."\nMalkin also stressed how important it is for broadcast students to get involved with such a contest.\n"It's an opportunity for (students) to get their work critiqued by the No. 1 cable news channel in the country and (have it) judged against other students' work across the country," he said. He also said the contest can teach students to look at news stories objectively and fairly in real life.\nIU is one of 102 colleges and universities participating in the contest. Last year's contest winners came from IU and were sponsored by Telecommunications Professor Ron Osgood.\nOsgood said the best part of winning the contest was seeing "the enthusiasm the students had to be able to participate in something where their completed work made a contribution to something, a real-world project."\nAlthough Osgood is not involved in this year's contest, he said it is helpful for broadcast students to be involved in the competition because of the importance of taking something from the classroom and applying it in a real-world situation. \n"You feel fulfillment, receive an intrinsic reward from completing (a tape) and knowing that someone could see it and benefit from it," he said. \nContest winners split a $10,000 scholarship, and the winning school receives a matching grant. The winners are also invited to appear live on the Fox News Channel to talk about their experience, according to the contest's press release. \nStudents may enter online until Oct. 15, and Malkin offered some words of advice for potential participants.\n"Be firm and confident in your reporting," he said. "Produce a clean copy of material, and report both sides of the story equally. That's what we're looking for." \n-- Contact Weekend copy chief Laura Kruty at lkruty@indiana.edu.