AI therapists. French protesters. Immigrants in New York. These stories won prizes in our twice-yearly competition.
Students from The Hewitt School in New York and School Year Abroad in France took top prizes in the 16th News Decoder Storytelling Competition.
The winning entries tackled serious issues such as artificial intelligence, the right to protest and immigration.
First Prize went to Sienna Mamoun and Alexa Taras of The Hewitt School for their story, “Who wants a therapist who’s robotic? But a robot therapist? Maybe.” The story looks at how people who might not otherwise accept counseling seem to do well when the counseling is done by artificial intelligence.
One judge commented: “A very well organized and written explanation of AI’s potential in treating medical problems (especially psychiatric). This is a topic I was unfamiliar with, and the story provided much useful information.”
Stories that impressed
Second Prize went to Samantha Crystal of The Hewitt School for her story “A growing need and shrinking funds” about how nonprofit organizations in New York are helping the growing number of immigrants who are seeking asylum there.
The judges awarded Third Prize to Leia Neilson, currently attending Sidwell Friends in Washington, D.C. but who wrote her story “By protesting, the French continue a long tradition of dissent” while a student at School Year Abroad in Rennes, France.
The winners were selected by a three-person jury that included Gene Gibbons, News Decoder correspondent based in Washington, D.C.; Alexandru Ciocan, editor-in-chief of Gen, revistă and ProMS country coordinator in Romania; and Joyce Yang, learner success manager and former News Decoder program and communications manager based in Paris.
The judges used the following criteria to rank the stories: whether the topic was fresh, different or timely; whether the student interviewed anyone for the story; whether the student reported the story without bias; whether the student considered different perspectives and finally the judge’s own subjective assessment.
Of Neilson’s entry, one judge felt that the criteria was too limiting: “In my opinion, this is a bit better then the ratings allow me to express,” the judge wrote.
Besides the winning three entries, the judges commended four other students for their submissions. Violetta DiChiera Walsh, a student with School Year Abroad in France, wrote about different ways teachers and students think about artificial intelligence in education. Christopher “Breck” DuPaul, also of School Year Abroad France, wrote about how living and studying in a different country has changed him. Arya Sharma, a student at VIBGYOR High NIBM in Pune, India, wrote about the harm to the planet caused by the clothing industry. And Akanksha Arkalgud, a student at VIBGYOR High HSR Layout in Bengaluru, India wrote about how disasters caused by climate change disrupt education.
News Decoder will be working with these students to publish their stories as part of its signature “Pitch, Revise, Draft and Revise” process or PRDR.
All three judges said they were impressed with the overall quality of the entries..
Challenging topics
News Decoder Educational News Director Marcy Burstiner said students this year proved they were capable of deep research but they took on challenging topics: climate change, natural disasters, cultural identity, immigration. “Most of the stories have not yet been published and so have not been professionally edited,” Burstiner said. “But I found that many of them are publishable and I am looking forward to working with the students — not only the award winners — on publishing the stories in the next few months.”
Burstiner said that people often think journalism is dying. “But every time we do workshops with young people they show a passion for it, for spotlighting problems in their communities and for telling compelling stories about those problems,” she said.
Through journalism, students get to explore what is happening around them and then connect what they see and experience to things that are happening elsewhere to other people, she said.
“They find that they aren’t alone and that all kinds of people in all kinds of places are working to find solutions to the problems we face,” she said. “The privilege of informing a greater public through non-fiction storytelling makes students feel connected and empowered. They have the ability to give voice to people who might not have one.”
The contest is held two times a year in honor of the late Arch Roberts Jr., who served with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna after more than 12 years as a staff member with the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. With the backing of an anonymous donor, News Decoder was able to award a total of $850 in cash prizes to this year’s winners. The entries came from students across News Decoder’s network of school partners.
To be considered for the contest, an entry must have been written by one or more students enrolled in a News Decoder partner institution. Students from nine schools in seven countries submitted articles to this iteration of the Storytelling Contest.
Learn more about News Decoder’s school partnership program.
Read the contest winners here:
First Prize
Who wants a therapist who’s robotic? But a robot therapist? Maybe.
Second Prize
A growing need and shrinking fund
Third Prize
By protesting, the French continue a long tradition of dissent
