SPJ scholarship winner optimistic for future
Sophomore Evan Millward said he was surprised and honored when he received the Central Ohio Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists scholarship.
“It was one of those moments where a lot of hard work suddenly pays off,” he said. “It reaffirms that even when you’re busting it to get things done, someone is watching, and you just never know.”
The scholarship winner is chosen by the SPJ adviser, who chooses someone who has made a difference in the organization to receive the award.
A broadcast news major from Beavercreek, Ohio, Millward became interested in journalism when he was just a sophomore in high school. He interned with a local paper for two summers and then took an internship with the Dayton Daily News the summer after his senior year of high school. When he got to college, though, he decided to try out broadcast journalism.
“I liked the visual aspect of it more, and I think that with everything going on in the industry it’s a necessary evil to be able to work a video camera well,” he said. “You have to be able to take a newspaper that could be several inches long and condense it into a news package, so I enjoy the challenge of it, too.”
Along with SPJ, Millward also volunteers at WOUB and is working on a documentary about a small town in West Virginia that is built around an aluminum plant. He said Ohio University has been a great school to gain experience and to make connections in the field.
“One of the most attractive points of the school is that you’re not discouraged or held back at all from getting the experience you need as soon as you can,” he said.
Even though the newspapers are shutting down across the nation, Millward says that journalism moving to the Web just offers more opportunities to expand the news.
“We’re no longer pigeonholed into keeping stories to X number of inches,” he said. “You can keep a story short in the newspaper but you can go to the Web site and find video and audio and all kinds of things. The Web gives you an opportunity to go deeper in the story.”
Millward said that when it comes to succeeding in the journalism world, involvement is key.
“It frustrates me to see kids who come into Scripps and think, ‘Well, I’m at Scripps, it’s a nationally recognized program, I’ll be fine.’ You can’t just come to class and get your degree and walk away,” Millward said. “You should get the most out of it; there are tons of opportunities. … I’ve got a lot of optimism for the future.”
by Alex Moning
- contact Robert Stewart at 740.593.2601
- Link directly to this Scripps Note
