EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University’s School of Journalism received a $150,000 gift from the Grant W. Howell Trust to establish an essay contest on media bias, as well as a scholarship program.
The endowed fund will be known as the Walter S. and Syrena M. Howell Essay Award and Scholarship Fund.
Grant W. Howell, former editor of the Royal Oak (Mich.) “Daily Tribune,” died in October 2004 and through his trust made this gift to the School of Journalism to promote and further the cause of unbiased, factual journalism in both print and electronic media.
As a 1996 inductee of the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame, Howell was widely known and respected as a tough, demanding editor who required integrity of his staff in its diligent search for accurate information. The endowed fund is named in memory of his parents, Walter and Syrena Howell.
The purpose of the Howell Essay Award and Scholarship Fund is to stimulate and encourage junior and senior students at MSU to closely analyze print and electronic media.The School of Journalism will publicize and conduct an annual essay contest on the use of propaganda, or unverifiable facts, as if they were statements of truth or accuracy, in print or broadcast journalism.Applicants will submit essays of 2,500 words or less. The winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000 and a scholarship of $3,000.
The MSU School of Journalism is one of the oldest, largest and most highly regarded journalism programs in the nation. The first journalism course was taught at MSU in 1910 and since 1949 the School of Journalism has been continuously reaccredited. Its undergraduate program was ranked ninth best in the U.S. in the 1998 edition of the Gourman Report, a respected rater of the nation's educational programs.