Winners of Student Reporter Contest recognized at ceremony

Winners of the Korea Times-ETS Student Reporter Contest pose with award plaques at an award ceremony at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Wednesday. Representatives of the sponsors of the event and judges also participated in the ceremony to congratulate the winners of the competition. Students submitted videos in which they selected a news item and reported about it in English. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Published Sep 8, 2022 2:49 PM KST
Updated Sep 8, 2022 3:34 PM KST

By Jeon Yae-wool

The winners of the 2022 Korea Times-ETS Student Reporter Contest received awards for their outstanding achievements at a ceremony at the Korea Press Center, Wednesday.

A total of 56 students from middle and high schools as well as universities across the nation were recognized for their creative work in the competition.

This year's student reporter competition called on applicants to submit a video report on any issue or subject they regard as newsworthy ― whether it be a person, social issue or personal experience.

The Korea Times has been hosting the annual event, sponsored mainly by ETS, the creator of the TOEFL iBT® test, to help students improve their English proficiency and gain journalistic experience by reporting on various issues through the medium of video.

Jay Kang, director of Academic Relations of ETS Korea, congratulated the winners on their outstanding achievements.

“Personally, the passion and competency the students showed through their selection of the news items and the quality of the reporting videos had greatly impressed me,” he said during his congratulatory speech. "Not only their English proficiency, but also the creativity of their topics and the logic behind their ideas were excellent and brilliant.”

Other sponsors of the event include Incheon Global Campus (IGC), the University of Utah Asia Campus, George Mason University Korea and Education New Zealand.

Among the participants in the ceremony were: Incheon Global Campus Foundation CEO Yu Pyung-ryun; University of Utah Asia Campus Chief Administrative Officer Gregory Hill, Dean of George Mason University Korea Campus Robert Matz and Education New Zealand Senior Manager Lee Kyung-ah.

"For students, it must have been difficult to pick a news item and make it into a news video. Still, there were many creative and original works,” said Cho Jae-hyon, managing director of The Korea Times. “I hope all the participants in the competition had meaningful experiences regardless of the results."

Two judges also joined the event. They are Korea University Vice President for International Affairs Lee Hi-kyoung and former Traffic Broadcasting System (TBS) English News Director Sunny Lee.

The winners received awards in eight prize categories, including the ETS Grand Prize Award, Gold Prize Award, Silver Prize Award, Bronze Prize Award, Education New Zealand Award, Incheon Global Campus CEO Award, Chief Administrative Officer Award and George Mason University Award.

Below are the 56 honorees of the contest and links to their works.