The Texas Daily Newspaper Association honored UH alumnus and former Daily Cougar Editor in Chief Matt Dulin on Monday for his work as a copy editor at The Beaumont Enterprise.
"I guess it’s kind of like an affirmation that I’m in the right place and I’m doing the right things professionally but I still feel there is a lot more for me to learn," Dulin said.
Dulin was selected from among copy editors who work for Texas newspapers with a circulation of less than 100,000 for the John Murphy Award for Excellence in Copy Editing. Each year, the award’s requirement alternates between papers with a circulation of more than 100,000 and those with less.
Dulin wasn’t able to attend the awards luncheon Monday, but the publisher of the Enterprise accepted the award on his behalf.
Dulin said he began working for the Enterprise in July 2007 after he graduated from UH in the spring.
He said when he first began as a writer for The Daily Cougar his dream was to work for the Washington Post, but now his goals have changed.
"In journalism you’re sort of expected to… move around a lot, you know, hop from paper to paper," he said. "I’m not sure if I’m interested in doing that because I’d like to grow within a paper and learn as much as I can, not only in terms of skills, but about that community I’m serving."
Dulin began writing for the Cougar his freshman year and served as editor in chief during his third and fourth years.
Part of being a good journalist is knowing the community one serves, Dulin said.
"I feel strongly that journalism is a service-oriented profession," Dulin said. "When you’re ignorant about the community you’re working in, you’re not able to serve it as well. That’s why I stayed as long as I did at the Cougar, because I felt strongly about serving the University of Houston community."
