Sophie Nieto-Muñoz JMS’17 and Dan Israel JMS’18, two graduates of the SC&I Journalism and Media Studies program, were recognized at the 2024 New Jersey Society of Professionals annual awards ceremony. Each year the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists honors the top journalists in the state, and this year the two received awards in the Garden State Division.

Nieto-Muñoz, who writes for the New Jersey Monitor, won first place for Best Business/Consumer story for her article “High Cost of Legal Cannabis Irks Customers.”

Nieto-Muñoz, according to her bio, is a native New Jerseyan and former Trenton statehouse reporter for NJ.com. She has gained recognition for her investigative work, showcasing NJ’s flawed unemployment system. Her reporting has earned many awards in the New Jersey Press Association. She was also a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists for her piece on PetSmart’s grooming practices, which was noticed by the New York Press Club. Nieto-Munoz, a first-generation Argentinian-American, values her bilingual reporting on the Latino community across the state.

Israel won second place in the Best Long Documentary Category for “Moving Us Forward: African American Contributions to The City Of Bayonne,” covering The Bayonne Branch of the NAACP.

Israel is a Staff Writer for TAPinto.net, covering stories and events happening in Jersey City. During his time at Rutgers, Israel was involved in WRSU 88.7 FM, The Daily Targum, RVision, and The Big Ten Network. Israel was a former Staff Writer for Newspaper Media group and a freelance videographer and writer for New Brunswick Today.

Learn more about the Journalism and Media Studies major on the Rutgers School of Communication and Information website.