Westport: Staples' Ben Reiser Wins Journalism Honor

WESTPORT, Conn. – Staples High School senior Benjamin Reiser, managing editor of the Staples student newspaper Inklings, was named Connecticut Student Journalist of the Year for 2013 by the Journalism Education Association, the organization announced.

Ben Reiser, a senior at Staples High School in Westport, was named Connecticut Student Journalist of the Year for 2013 by the Journalism Education Association.
Photo Credit: *Contributed*

by Vanessa Inzitari

03/11/2013 2:30 p.m.

“Few people possess the deep passion and dedication to accuracy and tenacity needed to pursue the truth; Ben Reiser is one of them,” FOX Business Network correspondent Adam Shapiro said in a statement.

Reiser, 18, joined Inklings his freshman year and worked his way up from a staff writer. As the publication’s managing editor, he has helped Inklings win Gold and Silver Crown Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for its print and online editions.

In 2011, Reiser received the Courage in Journalism Award from the Connecticut Academic Press Association for his work on “Community Responds to Financial, Staffing Cuts in Westport Public Schools.”

“Ben truly understands what it means to be a journalist— to write, to inform, and when necessary to ‘stir the pot,’” Inklings faculty adviser Stephen Rexford said in the statement. “His commitment, work ethic, and skill as a writer and editor have made the paper better, made the school community stronger and more vibrant, and demonstrated for the younger staff what it really means to be a journalist.”

As this year’s award winner from Connecticut, Reiser will next month represent the state at the National High School Journalist of the Year competition in San Francisco.

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