Journalism Student Winner of Generation Next Competition

Cal Poly journalism student Kyle McCarty was named one of three winners of the Entertainment Industry Council’s (EIC) Generation Next competition. 

Selected from a pool of more than 100 submissions statewide, 12 semifinalists in three categories were chosen to further develop their projects, from which three winners were announced. 

The competition invites California college students to produce stories about people living with mental health challenges. The stories are intended to expand awareness, reduce discrimination, and encourage those who need help to seek it. 

McCarty’s project, a thoroughly researched article on college youth and depression, was selected as the winner for the journalism category. McCarty drew inspiration for his story from a project completed in journalism Professor Patrick Howe’s Advanced Newspaper Reporting Practicum course. 

“One of the struggles in journalistic writing is that it’s far easier to tell stories when we oversimplify things, but that’s not good journalism,” Howe said. “The beauty of Kyle’s piece is that he told a complex story about depression during college in an engaging way that discussed both the problems and solutions.

“This is the sort of intelligent work that Cal Poly journalism strives to foster in all of our students.”

The 12 semifinalists worked with a team of professionals from the creative and mental health fields to help guide their project plans and to offer feedback on student progress. Semifinalists completed the final versions of their projects March 24, and judges gathered in early April to select the winners.

Each winner will receive $4,000 and will be recognized April 22 at the 18th annual PRISM Awards in Los Angeles.