Reno Reporter

Two students at the University of Nevada, Reno’s Reynolds School of Journalism have received honors at the Hearst National Journalism Awards, marking the sixth time the school has won the Hearst Award, often dubbed as the Pulitzers of college journalism. 

According to a news release posted on the university’s Nevada Today website, journalism student Alina Croft and recent graduate Faith Evans received 10th place honors in the Team Digital News/Enterprise competition that the pair collaborated on last year.  According to the release, Croft wrote the story, and Evans was in charge of the media portion of the project, including photos, graphics, a podcast and a video reel. 

“I really enjoyed taking charge of the multimedia elements because it gave me a very up-close-and-personal look at our topic,” Evans said in the news release. 

According to the news release, the project examined the topic of online chat rooms frequented by adults during the COVID-19 lockdown. It was completed as part of an International Reporting course, and the release noted that Evans scoured chatrooms to meet people around the world who might be able to offer global story ideas, resulting in the theme of the project. 

Croft noted in the news release that during her time at the Reynolds School of Journalism, she was able to be published, work outside of the university and make a network of connections. 

The news release also noted that Evans graduated from the Reynolds School last year and now works as a city reporter for the Nevada Appeal in Carson City where she covers local government.