Ambassador Hosts Award Reception for Winners of 2012 Wprost - Embassy Contest

13 June 2012

Ambassador Hosts Award Reception for Winners of 2012 Wprost - Embassy Contest

On June 12, Ambassador Feinstein and Wprost Editor-in-Chief Michał Kobosko honored and congratulated the winners of the 2012 Wprost-U.S. Embassy Essay Competition for Young Journalists at the Ambassador’s residence.  This year’s participants wrote about how social media changes politics in both the U.S. and Poland.

Coming in first place was Katarzyna Kowalewska, who provided a full breakdown and analysis of changes caused by social media. She went back to the TV presidential debate between Richard Nixon and John. F. Kennedy, as the beginning of today’s social media revolution and also focused on President Obama’s social media operation. She highlighted that the key is not just to be present in social media – but how you are present is crucial.

Anna Rubkiewicz from Warsaw finished second and Wiktor Cyrny from Koszalin finished third.

The final ten essays were evaluated by a jury that included: Michał Kobosko, Editor-in-Chief of Wprost; Piotr Gulczyński, head of Lech Wałęsa Institute; Marcin Wrona, TVN correspondent in the U.S.;  Jacek Gadzinowski, blogger and social media expert; and Paulina Chorazewska, media specialist in the Embassy.  The grand prize was an internship at the University of Missouri, one of the best journalism programs in the United States, sponsored in full by the U.S. Embassy.

The U.S Embassy and Wprost have partnered on this essay competition for young journalists annually since 1998.  Each year, the contest draws hundreds of young essayists throughout Poland.