Five high-achieving young journalists have won the 2013-14 scholarships awarded by the American Copy Editors Society Education Fund. The money will help cover college education costs. The winners also receive financial help to attend the ACES annual skill-building conference, March 20-22, 2014, in Las Vegas.
Austin Ruff of Iowa State University won the top award, the $2,500 Aubespin scholarship. He has earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and international studies, and has interned as a copy editor at the Telegraph Herald of Dubuque. He now works for Register Media in Des Moines, helping prepare mobile and tablet platform launches for the Gannett Co. Inc. The Aubespin award is named for Merv Aubespin, a longtime journalist and editor in Kentucky, whose efforts on behalf of copy editors have made him the “godfather” of ACES.
Winners of $1,000 scholarships are:
Becca Clemons of the University of Kentucky, where she is to complete journalism major in May. She has had copy editing and reporting internships at The New York Times, The Arizona Republic, the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Washington bureau of the Los Angeles Times. She will intern at The Seattle Times this summer.
Madeleine Cummings of Columbia University, on track for a master’s degree in journalism. She has an honors bachelor’s degree from McGill University in Montreal. She has been an intern for CTV, a freelance writer for U.S. and Canadian publications, a videographer, and editor-in-chief of the McGill Undergraduate Journal of Canadian Studies.
Kyle Warnke of the University of Central Florida, who has earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He has interned as a copy editor for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, on the Web for ClickOrlando.com, and in reporting for the Orlando Business Journal and the Seminole Voice. He is now copy editing for the Orange County Register.
Katie Yaeger of the University of Missouri, where she is journalism major. She has been a copy editor and reporter for the Columbia Missourian and a copy editing intern at the Orange County Register.
The winners were chosen from 55 applications by five professional editors: Mark Allen of Columbus, Ohio; Carol Carpenter of New Orleans; Jeff Kleinman of Miami; David Sheets of St. Louis; and Diego Sorbara of New York.
The ACES Education Fund has now awarded 69 scholarships since 1999.
The American Copy Editors Society is an alliance of editors working at newspapers, magazines, websites, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, traditional media outlets and Fortune 500 companies, as well as freelance editors, students and their professors. The ACES Education Fund, a nonprofit organization, awards scholarships to students who have a passion for editing.
