Student podcaster wins national award for spotlighting Gen Z’s financial worries

A young white woman with red hair and bangs smiles at the camera.
UWM journalism, advertising, & media studies major Grace Pagel won a national "Mark of Excellence" award from the Society of Professional Journalists in the podcast category. Photo courtesy of Grace Pagel.

UWM student Grace Pagel won a first place national “Mark of Excellence” award from the Society of Professional Journalists in the Podcast (Narrative) category in May. Her podcast, “Breaking the Bank: Unpacking Gen Z’s Financial Insecurity,” beat out other student journalists from across the nation, including competitors from institutions like Harvard, Stanford, and Northwestern universities.

The SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards highlight the best and brightest of student journalism across the United States. Judges are instructed to “choose only those entries which they felt were outstanding work worthy of a national honor,” according to the SPJ website.

Winning the award was a welcome but unexpected honor for Pagel – mainly because she didn’t realize she was competing. One of her journalism instructors, Jane Hampden Daley, had entered it in the contest, unbeknownst to Pagel.

“It was a total surprise! But the best surprise possible,” Pagel laughed. “I was very, very happy about that result.”

Her podcast also took second place in its category at the Milwaukee Press Club Awards. Pagel had also entered it into NPR’s annual College Podcast Challenge, but did not win.

“But that’s okay,” Pagel said. “I’m very impressed with the feedback that I’ve gotten for this (SPJ) award in general. … I think being nationally recognized in any kind of accord is a really great honor. I think it’s super-cool that SPJ is recognizing more unrecognized universities. UW-Milwaukee can definitely compete with those bigger private schools.”

In fact, in the SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards, UW-Milwaukee was named a national finalist in the General News Reporting category for the piece “Beyond the Barricades,” compiled by several student journalists in UWM’s journalism immersion class.

Pagel created her podcast as part of her final project for Hampden Daley’s “Audio Storytelling” class in the fall of 2023. The seven-minute project features conversations with three students – two from UWM and one from Marquette University – and an interview with UWM Professor of Economics Rebecca Neumann. Pagel highlights her peers’ worries for their financial future, explores financial trends with Neumann, and offers several perspectives on the worries of young adults in the 2020s.

A young woman in a blue coat confers with a woman in an orange hat and white coat, and a man holding an acoustic guitar. They are on a New York City street.
UWM student Grace Pagel (right) conducts an on-the-street interview in New York City in 2023. Photo courtesy of Grace Pagel.

Recording was an interesting experience: “If you’re not using a Zoom recording mic(rophone), it’s actually really easy to recreate professional sound by recording in a closet,” Pagel said. She also used the recording equipment and facilities at the UWM Library and would record snippets of sound and dialogue on her way to class or when hanging out with her roommates.

The final result was a product that showcased Pagel’s skills as an interviewer and producer – unsurprising, as she has always been interested in storytelling and radio.

“I have wanted to work in radio or be a part of a radio station since I was 15,” Pagel said. That’s why she chose UWM; the Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies program gives students hands-on experience and instruction from award-winning industry professionals.

In addition to her classes, Pagel has gained experience at UWM’s Prowl Radio, a student-run radio station that features music and interviews. Pagel, a founding member of the station, is now its manager.

She hopes she can translate those experiences into a job after she graduates next spring. She would love to be a television newsroom producer in a larger market like Minneapolis or Chicago. Or she could produce audio for radio stations – WUWM Radio and 89.9 Radio Milwaukee are her favorite hometown stations. She wouldn’t be opposed to working at an ad agency either. The possibilities are endless.

And though her podcast reveals that Gen Z might not be feeling hopeful about their financial future, Pagel nevertheless has an interesting future ahead of her.

By Sarah Vickery, College of Letters & Science


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