Newhouse student wins first place in Hearst Personality/Profile writing competition

Abigail Weiss
Abigail Wiess. Photo by Tamara Beckwith/NYPOST

Newspaper and online journalism senior Abigail Weiss took first place in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program Personality/Profile Writing competition.

Weiss won for her article, “THE ONE: Joe Biden’s 1st wife Neilia Biden shaped his life, career while at Syracuse,” published in The Daily Orange. Weiss did the article at the urging of her editor at The Daily Orange.

“I saw this as an opportunity to not only write the untold story of an exceptional SU alumna but to learn how she shaped our current president and connected with people in Syracuse. While it’s been 50 years, I don’t think Biden would be who he is without Neilia. I wanted to give her some recognition for that.”

Weiss says she’s in the job-hunting stage right now, but would like to go into climate journalism or become an audience producer in the future.

Weiss will receive a $3,000 scholarship for the first place win, and qualifies for the National Writing Championship in May.

Congratulations, Abby!