RPP Junior Fellow Earns Two
Religion Reporting Awards and the David
Kaplan Memorial Fellowship
By Tim
Hill
Ross
Todd, pictured in the studios of KBIA,
has earned reporting awards from the
Missouri Press Association and the Religion
Newswriters Association.
Ross Todd, a graduate
student at the Missouri School of Journalism
and RPP junior fellow, has been awarded
two prestigious religion reporting honors
and a fellowship with ABC News in Washington,
D.C.
The Missouri
Press Association has named Ross' article
"Soul Searching" Best Religion Story in
its annual competition. The article was
an in-depth and fascinating look at Hispanic
immigrants' religious experience in central
Missouri and their frequent conversion from
Catholicism to other faiths. Topping entries
from the state's larger newspapers, including
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the
Kansas City Star, Ross' story appeared
in Adelante, a publication of the
Columbia Missourian. Read "Soul Searching"
(PDF) from Adelante: Page
1 | Page
2 | Page
3.
In a separate competition
sponsored by the Religion
Newswriters Association, Ross was first
runner up for the Chandler Award for Student
Reporter of the Year in Religion News. His
entries were
"Soul Searching" about
Hispanic immigrants in central Missouri;
"Building
a Holy House," a story about Carpenters
for Christ, an organization that donates
labor to church building projects around
the country.
Ross was recently named
the 2004 recipient of the David Kaplan Memorial
Fellowship, which is awarded each year to
one Missouri graduate student who specializes
in broadcast producing. Sam Donaldson, one
of the nation's premier broadcast journalists,
participated in the selection process. David
Kaplan, MA '75, was a producer at ABC News
before his death in 2000.
Ross will work as a
production intern for ABC News in Washington,
D.C., next semester while fulfilling the
professional component of his master's project.
He will work with field producers for both
radio and television projects.
Ross received a B.A.
in Religion and English from Centre College
in Danville, Kentucky. As a Lilly Intern
for Religious Life while at Centre College,
he created a speakers' series called "This
I Believe." The series, which included speakers
from diverse religious traditions, encouraged
students to increase dialogue and to confront
misunderstandings that occur among people
from different faith communities. During
two years with AmeriCorps*VISTA, he helped
develop programs for high-school dropouts
in St. Louis.
Ross has worked as a
reporter for the Columbia
Missourian and is a contributing
writer for Vox
magazine. He can also be heard delivering
the local news on KBIA,
Columbia's NPR affiliate.
A blog about faith, values and spirituality in the media, from CORP faculty, staff and friends.
ReligiousLife@MU A blog about religious life at the University of
Missouri-Columbia.
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