Journalism major Kiana Duncan, ’18, and alumnus Ian Flickinger, ’16, are the latest members of Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC) to be recognized in the Hearst Journalism Awards program.
Flickinger, who is now a broadcast associate at CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley, earned 12th place nationwide in the multimedia category. Duncan earned 18th place in the same category for a story she worked on last spring when she traveled to Cyprus for International Storytelling.
Duncan’s story highlighted the lack of women in government positions in Cyprus.
“I got to talk to a lot of politicians and amazing young women who are changing politics in Nicosia,” she said.
Traveling to Cyprus to work on the piece was Duncan's first time abroad. She said it was difficult being in a new county and working around the language barrier for interviews.
“(It) was a huge test of my skills, and I couldn’t be happier I did it, especially with how it turned out.”
It was incredible to be recognized, she said, especially because she was only a sophomore at the time of the project. She added that it was a humbling experience to be able to raise awareness about an issue that not many people knew about.
“I had a lot of great professors to look up to while doing this project,” said Duncan.
Duncan is currently serving as a student ambassador in the College of Communiation and Information (CCI) and Portage Pulse anchor and newscast producer for TV2. This summer she will intern with WBNS-10TV in Columbus.
“It definitely feels like hard work paying off,” she said. “This has given me the confidence to do more international journalism work in Prague this coming fall through JMC’s new program.”