Four senior journalism majors who produced a story about human trafficking for their Multimedia Journalism class finished sixth in the Team Multimedia competition.
Senior journalism majors Emmanuel Morgan, Maya Eaglin, Meagan Gitelman and Carter Rayburn placed sixth in the 2018-19 Hearst Journalism Awards Team Multimedia – News competition. The quartet produced a story about the prevalence of human trafficking in Alamance County, which is often unseen and overlooked.
The story details the experiences of a former Elon student who was held in servitude for 13 years of her life, forced to work on a farm caring for chickens, dogs and other animals that she also shared living space with.
Sadly, the story revealed, the former student’s experience isn’t uncommon in Alamance County. “When measured against the county’s population, about one in every 27,000 people was trafficked in Alamance County," the story noted. "The frequency is more than three times the statewide rate, where roughly one in every 86,000 people was trafficked.”
And that’s why the team knew the story needed to be written.
“We decided to report on this story because it seemed that not many students had attempted to do so,” Eaglin said. “It’s hard to say we did an amazing job, or it was enjoyable, because it’s a story about the darkest parts of humanity. Our team tried to be as diligent and sensitive as possible. We learned that there’s still much work to be done in North Carolina and the world. This story was difficult to work on for such a long time, but it doesn’t compare to the challenges and emotional struggles faced by those who have dealt with the issue firsthand.”
The story was produced as a part of Communications Senior Lecturer Randy Piland’s Multimedia Journalism class, and it was one of 80 entries received in this year’s Hearst Team Multimedia competition submitted from 49 schools. Elon’s sixth-place finish puts it in the top 10 with other accredited institutions such as Western Kentucky University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Temple University, Arizona State University and the University Florida.
The Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program gives journalism majors an opportunity to compete for personal scholarships, school grants and stipends by writing stories on current events. Only students from schools accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication are eligible to participate.
“It was so rewarding finishing our senior year with a Hearst award,” Eaglin said. “I felt excited knowing that we placed top-10 in the country. The Hearst awards are such an honor, I’m proud we could add another for the school.”