Morgan State University Newsroom Morgan State University
Morgan State University’s School of Global Journalism & Communication presented Kirsten West Savali with the Vernon Jarrett Medal For Journalistic Excellence on June 28 at the National Press Club in Northwest Washington, D.C. The award is given for exemplary reporting on Black life in America.
Savali is a cultural critic and an associate editor at The Root, a news site for Black Americans. She was also a contributing editor for Newsone.com. Her award also comes with $10,000.
The Medal For Journalistic Excellence award is named after the late Vernon Jarrett, who was a pioneering Black journalist and the first Black columnist at the Chicago Tribune. He was also the creator of the NAACP’s “Act-So” program that was established to encourage academic excellence among Black youth. The award is funded by a grant from the Open Society Foundations, an organization, created in 1979, to build vibrant and tolerant societies whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people.
