Students urged to win awards for reporting on anti-Semitis

SAN FRANCISCO – The Institute for Jewish and Community Research and the Student Free Press Association launched last week the Gary A. Tobin Awards: Excellence in Student Reporting on Antisemitism.
Canadian students are eligible to participate.

Kenneth L. Marcus, director of the Antisemitism Initiative at the Institute for Jewish and Community Research in San Francisco, told the Jewish Tribune:

“We’ve been very concerned about the resurgence of antisemitism on North American college campuses. Although much of our research tracks United States institutions, we’ve been very concerned about the situation at several Canadian universities. I’ve been to Canada three times in the last year or so to address the alarming incidents we’ve seen there. We would be quite pleased to receive submissions from Canadian students.”

This first in a series of awards recognizes exemplary student reporting on anti-semitism and related prejudices in education. Many American educational institutions have become safe havens for the promotion of propaganda and activity that features some of the most harmful aspects of antisemitism, the institute said in a press release. The Tobin Award’s goal is to stimulate interest and activity in writing that restores rational and civil dialogue on campus through exposure and analysis of the problem. Works produced by students are some of the most influential in setting the tone of campus discourse.
The categories are Print Journalism and New Media.

Print Journalism includes newspapers, magazines and other traditional media. Mainstream and student outlets of any circulation size are considered.

New Media includes web sites, blogs, podcasts and other online multimedia. Writing by incoming or current students in undergraduate or graduate programs in higher education will be considered.

The prize amount for each category is US$1,000.

The competition is open to student writing published during the 2010/2011 academic school year and submitted by the deadline of April 11, 2011. There is no entry fee. Work will be evaluated for originality, depth, analysis, content, accuracy and style by a panel of judges that includes veteran journalists and civil rights experts. Award winners will be announced by April 25, 2011.