A recent Franklin College graduate has been named Indiana’s Student Journalist of the Year.
The Indiana Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists gave the distinction to Erica Irish, most recently web editor for The Franklin, the college’s student newspaper, during a virtual ceremony June 14, according to a Franklin College news release. She was up against student-journalists at colleges and universities around the state.
During her time at Franklin College, Irish interned at the Indianapolis Business Journal, Chalkbeat Indiana and WFYI. She won an Emmy Award for her role as an assistant producer on “The Children’s Crusade Revisited: Slaughterhouse-Five at 50,” a documentary about famed Hoosier author Kurt Vonnegut.
Irish meets every challenge head-on, John Krull, director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism, said in the news release.
John Krull served as executive producer on the Slaughterhouse-Five documentary.
“Pride doesn’t even begin to describe what I feel about Erica’s achievements,” Krull said. “Erica doesn’t just step up to challenges — she sprints to meet them. Along the way, she makes everyone around her better by making each of her colleagues feel confident and valued.”
Altogether, Franklin College collected seven awards during the ceremony, including Irish’s award, and two first-place recognitions, including for an editorial cartoon by Ariana Lovitt and for Best Design Other Than Page One or Cover, awarded to Emily Hales, the news release said.
