By Roy Harris, President, The ASBPE Foundation
Daniel Viola, a recent journalism graduate from Toronto’s Ryerson University, was named the winner of the 2012 business-to-business journalism student writing award – co-sponsored for the first time this year by The ASBPE Foundation, in collaboration with the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Viola’s award-winning article, “The Ethics of Staging: Lifting the Curtain on the Rights and Wrongs of Recreating Scenes for TV News,” appeared in the Summer 2012 issue of the Ryerson Review of Journalism. His hometown is Mississauga, Ontario, and he now lives in Toronto. He has worked for several national magazines in Canada, including Spacing and Chatelaine.
A contest judge who selected Viola’s article said that the piece covered the topic of broadcast-journalism staging – the posing of scenes by a camera operator, rather than using actual action shots – “in a comprehensive manner with numerous sources and detailed examples.” The judge added: “The piece was well organized, engaging, and nicely focused on its target audience, one of the key elements of strong business-to-business magazine writing.”
The award comes with a $100 check and a one-year student membership in ASBPE. The award is being presented on Aug. 11 at the AEJMC National Conference in Chicago, with ASBPE Foundation president Roy Harris in attendance.
For The ASBPE Foundation, the nonprofit educational arm of ASBPE, it is an expansion of our effort to encourage student interest in the business-to-business press. AEJMC for years has presented student writing awards across a number of categories. Now, however, The ASBPE Foundation is helping the academic organization build the appeal of B2B in university journalism programs, by offering a chance for students to try writing for the business media. Currently, the Foundation administers the Azbee Awards program’s Stephen Barr Award, gives financial support to ASBPE’s Young Leaders Program, and also backs ASBPE’s growing webinar educational efforts.