By Anette Perez, Genesis Bu-Chinchilla & Saron Gebereegzuabhier
Trinity Times Correspondents

Trinity Washington University’s student media organization, Trinity Times, was named the 2026 Best Student News Organization by the Catholic Media Association during its awards ceremony last week, leading the collegiate awards categories.

Trinity Times earned national recognition at the 2026 Catholic Media Conference after receiving 19 of the 40 collegiate awards presented by the Catholic Media Association for excellence in reporting, multimedia and student journalism.

Held June 16-19 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the Catholic Media Conference brought together Catholic media professionals, educators and student journalists from across North America to discuss the changing landscape of journalism and recognize excellence in faith-based media.

The awards included first place honors for Best Student News Organization, Best Website, Best News Story, Best Profile, Best Audio or Radio Single Episode, Best Multimedia or Digital Storytelling and Best News Photo.

Trinity students competed with journalism students from colleges and universities across the United States, including Barry University, DePaul University, Fordham University, Loyola University Chicago, Manhattan University, Neumann University, St. Anselm College, Stonehill College, The Catholic University of America, University of Notre Dame, University of Portland and University of San Diego.

The conference featured workshops, roundtables and master classes designed to train media professionals in editorial practices, multimedia storytelling and faith-based journalism. For Trinity students, the event provided an opportunity to learn from professionals while seeing how their own work measured on a national level.

Trinity was represented at the conference by three Journalism and Media Studies students, an adjunct professor and the program chair. Attendees included rising Journalism and Media Studies seniors Anette Perez, Genesis Bu-Chinchilla and Saron Gebereegziabhier; professor Barb Fraze; and Trinity newsroom director Chaz Muth, who also serves as chair of Trinity’s Journalism and Media Studies major and minor.

For Bu-Chinchilla, the experience extended beyond professional development, offering a moment of pride and reflection on her growth as a student journalist.

“Hearing my name being called for awards was the most rewarding experience of my life,” she said. “I kind of sat there thinking to myself ‘wow, my hard work is not only being recognized but also rewarded.’ That to me is truly what gives me purpose to continue to grow as a journalist.”

Trinity earned seven first-place awards, three second-place awards, five third-place awards and four honorable mentions.

First-Place Honors:

Best Student News Organization — Trinity Times, Trinity Washington University

Best Website — Trinity Times, Trinity Washington University

Best News Story — Anette Perez for “Faith, Justice, and Hope: Trinity’s Symposium Bridges Two Popes and a Century of Change.” The judges included the following note: “The coverage is an excellent and well-crafted examination of a historic moment, offering thorough and newsworthy reporting that effectively connects broader national and global developments to the campus community, while highlighting the mission and Catholic identity of Trinity Washington University through a compelling local perspective.”

Best Profile — Genesis Bu-Chinchilla for “Journalist Jim Acosta Challenges Trinity Students to Be Brave Truth-Tellers.” The judges included the following note: “The article by Genesis Bu-Chinchilla is a high-quality example of journalistic writing, offering a timely and engaging account of Jim Acosta’s visit to Trinity Washington University, combining clear and descriptive storytelling with well-chosen quotes and strong visuals to provide readers with an immersive and informative perspective on a pressing contemporary issue.”

Best Audio or Radio Single Episode — Tanzania Kennedy and Saron Gebereegziabhier for “Art, Power, and the African Diaspora.” The judges included the following note: “Beyond the informative content of arts in the African Diaspora, a listener will be impressed with the professional and technical prowess exhibited by this and many of the radio episodes coming out of Trinity Washington University.”

Best Multimedia or Digital Storytelling — Saron Gebereegziabhier and Genesis Bu-Chinchilla for “Student Parent at Trinity Studies Screen Time’s Impact on Children.” Judges included the following note: “The best episode of the Enlightened Exchanges series provides a public service to the listener. The episode probes the potential deleterious effects of screens on our youngest and most vulnerable children.”

Best News Photo — Sydney Ware for “Author Clint Smith.” Judges left the following note: “Nice composition and good job capturing the interplay between the subjects. Image effectively communicates the topic being covered.”

Second-Place Honors:

Best Profile — Nermin Redi for “Trinity Senior Makes Climate Change Awareness Her Crusade for a Sustainable Planet“

Best Audio or Radio Single Episode — Saron Gebereegziabhier and Anette Perez for “Freedom to Teach: Reading Assata Shakur“

Best Multimedia or Digital Storytelling — Ashley Williams and Saron Gebereegziabhier for “Back to Class, Forward in Life: A Mother’s College Journey of Resilience and Self-Discovery“

Third-Place Honors:

Best Profile — Genesis Bu-Chinchilla for “Homesickness is Not Uncommon for College Students“

Best Audio or Radio Single Episode — Genesis Bu-Chinchilla and Anette Perez for “Nourishing Kindness in Uncertain Times“

Best Multimedia or Digital Storytelling — Saron Gebereegziabhier and Genesis Bu-Chinchilla for “Trinity’s Early College Academy Students Call for Greater Youth Civic Engagement“

Best News Photo — Nneka Browner for “Homesickness“

Student Journalist of the Year — Saron Gebereegziabhier

Honorable Mentions:

Best News Story — Saron Gebereegziabhier for “Trinity Students Bring Gender Justice to United Nations“

Best Feature Story — Anette Perez for “Trinity to Hold April 9 Event to Educate University Community About Vaccines“

Best Audio or Radio Single Episode — Ashley Williams and Saron Gebereegziabhier for “The Path of Returning Adult College Students“

Best Multimedia or Digital Storytelling — Genesis Bu-Chinchilla and Saron Gebereegziabhier for “Trinity Students Learn to Coexist With Wildlife on Campus“

The students’ attendance was made possible in part through two Trinity Washington University Travel Awards offered by the Evelyn Y. Davis Center for Journalism, Media and Communication. The awards were open to Journalism and Media Studies majors or minors who actively contributed to Trinity Times, submitted work to the 2026 St. Juan Diego Collegiate Awards and remained in good academic standing.

The awards covered conference registration, hotel accommodations and round-trip travel to Atlantic City. Recipients were selected by a faculty committee based on the quality of their submitted work, demonstrated commitment to journalism and media, strength of their personal statements and engagement with Trinity Times.

The awards were presented to Genesis Bu-Chinchilla and Saron Gebereegziabhier, whose participation in the conference provided opportunities for professional development, networking and national recognition.

“Winning the travel award made the conference possible for me, but more importantly, it made me feel seen as a student journalist,” Gebereegziabhier said. “Attending the conference reminded me that our stories, our reporting, and our voices have value, and it pushed me to think in depth about the kind of journalist I hope to become.”

This year, the Catholic Media Association introduced the St. Carlo Acutis Scholarship, a new opportunity for college students and recent graduates interested in Catholic communications to attend the conference at no cost. The scholarship provided full conference registration, four nights at the conference hotel and travel reimbursement of up to $500.

Three students were awarded the scholarship, including Trinity’s own Anette Perez, as well as students from the University of Notre Dame and Rutgers University. The funding allowed recipients to develop their skills, build professional relationships and learn directly from experienced Catholic media professionals.

Perez said the experience made a lasting impression on her and that every media professional she encountered was welcoming and eager to offer guidance and encouragement. Like Bu-Chinchilla, she added that it was especially rewarding to attend the Collegiate Awards ceremony and hear her name announced alongside other accomplished journalists.

The scholarship was made possible through the generosity of the Catholic Journalism Scholarship Fund, eCatholic and Catholic Extension. It aims to encourage the next generation of Catholic communicators by removing financial barriers to attending the conference.

“Attending this conference was such a valuable professional experience, and I am honored and grateful to have been selected as a Carlo Acutis Scholar,” Perez said. “Because of this scholarship, I was introduced to a whole new world where journalism, faith, and community come together to support one another.”

For Muth, who serves as an editor for Trinity Times and chair of Trinity’s Journalism and Media Studies program, the awards carried meaning beyond the number of honors received. They reflected the growth, dedication and journalistic excellence Trinity students have continued to build through their reporting, storytelling and multimedia work.

“It gives me a tremendous sense of pride to see what our students are doing,” said Muth, noting that the recognition came in a competition drawing submissions from colleges and universities across the United States.

In that sense, Trinity’s success at the conference was not only a celebration of individual achievement, but also confirmation that student journalism at Trinity is earning recognition on a national stage.

“It’s really telling that out of the 40 awards that were given in the collegiate awards, 19 of them were awarded to Trinity, and that tells me right there that the quality of the journalism that is coming into Trinity Times throughout the journalism and media studies program is resonating,” he said. “The students are really learning that and they really understand how to connect with their audiences.”