Dr. Melita Garza of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, won the 2024 essay contest sponsored by Journalism History.
Originally the brainchild of Dr. Erika Pribanic-Smith (University of Texas at Arlington), the competition first began in 2018 and has featured essays around specific themes. This year’s competition focused on civil rights with the impetus being the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A panel of judges assessed the submitted essay proposals, and selected Dr. Garza’s as the best. She will receive a $100 prize and have her essay published in the journal.
Dr. Garza is an associate professor and the Tom and June Netzel Sleeman Scholar in Business Journalism at the University of Illinois. Her essay, which is not yet titled, will focus on Ruben Salazar’s work at the Los Angeles Times and at a Spanish-language station KMEX regarding the Mexican-American freedom struggle. Her entry says that she plans to place his work within a broader civil rights context.
“I am grateful that Journalism History chose to commemorate this milestone legislation, whose spirit, more than a half century after its passage, is still hauntingly unfulfilled,” Dr. Garza said. “Moreover, I’m thrilled to bring greater recognition to pathbreaking journalist, Ruben Salazar, who lost his life in 1970 while covering one of the nation’s largest Mexican American civil rights marches.”
Three other scholars tied for second place, and their essays will also be published in the journal, according to Journalism History Editor Pam Parry (Southeast Missouri State University). The judges deemed these excellent essays as worthy of publication in Journalism History, she added.
The second-place winners are Dr. Pete Smith (Mississippi State University), and Dr. Nathaniel Frederick II (Winthrop University) and Dr. William Schulte (Winthrop). Dr. Smith’s essay is titled, “Let the Chips Fall Where They May,” and will discuss press framing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act in four Mississippi newspapers. Drs. Frederick and Schulte co-authored a piece that will focus on the media establishment and the Black arts movement.
In addition, six other essays were selected to be published on the Journalism History website. Essay coordinator Willie R. Tubbs will edit and submit those essays for posting throughout the year.
“Our judges had quite the challenge on their hands this year,” Tubbs said. “All of our submissions, even those that were not ultimately chosen, were strong. But among that strong field, three stood out for their quality. I think our readers will be impressed with the unique, powerful approaches the authors take in attacking this important subject.”
Journalism History is the official academic journal of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s History Division. In 2024, Journalism History is celebrating its 50th year of continuous publishing, making it the oldest peer-reviewed publication on the subject in the United States.