350 of Dallas’s finest high school journalists gather under one roof at Union Station, each one hoping to celebrate another year of service to their school newspaper. On March 30th, The Roundup, as well as over 40 other high school newspapers, attended the 2016 High School Journalism Day (HJSD).
Leaving Jesuit by bus around 8:00 am, 7 members of The Roundup, accompanied by Dr. Degen, arrived at Union Station to participate in Dallas Morning News’ Journalism Day, a day dedicated to rewarding students for their outstanding work in journalism.
To kick off the event, members of The Roundup attended classes dealing with different aspects of a newspaper, such as sports commentary, website design, opinion writing, interviewing techniques. For example, Tom Whitaker ‘ 17 went to a seminar focused on designing an appealing and interactive website. “After listening to the ideas of the Dallas Morning News website design team,” Whitaker said, “I understand what separates a great website from a mediocre one, and I hope to implement some of the ideas they shared to make The Roundup website even better.”
Casey Snelson ‘17 also really enjoyed his class regarding sports commentary, remarking, “As someone who plays baseball, I already have a love for sports, making it my favorite topic to write about for the newspaper. The class gave me the opportunity to see how a large newspaper runs their sports section effectively, crafting informative and interesting articles.”
After attending classes, some members of The Roundup regrouped to eat lunch, while others fanned out across the Dallas Morning News campus, searching for famous “Selfie Spots.” Attempting to win the prize of free Texas Rangers tickets for the best selfie, Thomas Whitaker went on a mission to take the most exciting selfies in front of different DMN landmarks, which were properly labeled “Selfie Spots.”
Unfortunately, Whitaker didn’t not win the prize and “felt robbed by the Dallas Morning News as the winning selfie was uncreative and tasteless.”
Following lunch was the most anticipated part of the day, the awards ceremony, where The Roundup’s very own Editor-in-Chief, Alex Motter ‘16, was nominated for the best series award for his stellar 9/11 articles. However, in what is considered to be the greatest snub in HSJD history, Motter did not win the award. Gasps proceeded to fill the air as members of The Roundup were shocked Motter failed to receive the award. Even though Motter lost, Matt Musso ‘17 still thought that “He should be proud of his nomination.”
Before members of The Roundup headed back to Jesuit at the end of the day, they took a quick picture with NBC 5’s Meredith Land, who co-anchors the 5, 6, and 10 P.M News. The keynote speaker at HSJD, Land shared her journey to becoming one of the most recognizable faces in Dallas, overcoming numerous obstacles along the way in the field of journalism.
After a bitter-sweet HSJD, The Roundup looks forward to returning next year to win the award for the most outstanding series and take home the prize for the best selfie.
