3 IDS journalists listed in UWIRE top-100 list

Three journalism students and Indiana Daily Student employees made UWIRE’s list of the country’s top 100 student journalists, which was announced May 21.\nCarrie Ritchie, Michael Sanserino and Mark Koenig were named on the list for the work they have done in student media.\nUWIRE is an online college news wire and networking service that has hundreds of campus affiliates. Ben French, the general manager for UWIRE, said the judges looked for students’ professionalism and promise in journalism for the future.\nFrench, an IU alumnus and fall 1997 editor in chief for the IDS, expressed the confidence he has in the IDS and in the IU School of Journalism. The IDS is one of the few college newspapers with multiple winners, he said. It is among the ranks of the Daily Iowan at the University of Iowa, the Daily Tar Heel at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and The Daily Collegian at Penn State University.\n“I’m proud by the fact three students from the IDS were chosen,” he said. “It shows what an amazing school IU is.”\nRitchie, the spring 2008 IDS editor in chief and recent graduate, started writing for the IDS at the very beginning of her freshman year. She said the passion for news at the IDS and the newsroom environment caused her to stay. This also made it painful for her to leave.\n“I never did the same thing every day,” Ritchie said. “But I benefited from the challenges. Letting go of the IDS is the hardest thing to do.”\nRitchie spoke out against the off-the-record request made for a public speech on Jan. 22 by former government official Meghan O’Sullivan. The event was cancelled because of this refusal. Ritchie said standing up for student journalists’ rights is the most important thing she learned to do while working for the IDS.\n“We need to have the same rights and freedom that real journalists have,” she said. “Without understanding our freedom, we won’t be an effective country or democracy.”\nFrench praised Ritchie for how she handled the off-the-record request for a speech intended for the public.\n“She is more professional than most professionals I know,” he said.\nSanserino, IDS sports writer and IU senior, said the most difficult thing about his job was how he had to compete with leading news organizations. Sanserino remembers competing with ESPN and the Indianapolis Star to talk to basketball stars and coaches, but he was always able to get the interviews he needed to write his stories.\n“I was never shut out,” he said. “I just talked to as many people as possible.”\nSanserino also expressed the importance of having students ask questions and report the news.\n“It’s important that students are represented,” he said. “There has to be a check on the government and on administrators. They often overlook students when they pay tuition.”\nUWIRE also included graphic designers in their list. Koenig, a former IDS designer, was one of the few who made the list, French said.\nKoenig recently graduated with a degree in studio art and said designing for a newspaper gave him the challenge he wanted.\n“I had to pay attention to detail,” he said. “I had to spend time to think about how you need to place the content (of the newspaper).”\nKoenig also enjoyed the general IDS environment, which he likened to working for a major newspaper. He recalled the choas when former IU basketball coach Mike Davis resigned.\n“It was really neat hearing the editors call back and forth between each other,” he said.\nAll three students have no plans for changing their career paths, and they are all content with the life journalism has to offer.\nRitchie will be an education reporter for the Indianapolis Star starting next month and said she never plans to give up her journalism career.\n“I always have to be out and about and doing things,” she said. “I love talking to people and meeting new people.”\nKoenig has his sights set for designing, “in one form or another,” he said. He is now interning for the Columbus Dispatch, but he plans to take it easy before his career starts.\n“I got a puppy,” he said. “I need to take care of her.”\nSanserino is currently interning at the St. Petersburg Times in St. Petersburg, Fla. He will also be a managing editor at the IDS for the fall semester. He said he never wants to leave the newspaper world.\n“I always loved journalism,” Sanserino said. “I like to be where things are happening. Reporting, editing, I’ll be somewhere doing something.”