Elisa Tang of Plumsted has received the national Gracie Award for outstanding news programming from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation. PLUMSTED — Elisa Tang, a Plumsted resident who is a senior at Hofstra University, New York, said she was shocked when she learned she had won the national Gracie Award for outstanding news programming from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation.
“I was literally speechless for a minute, and my jaw dropped,” she said.
Tang, who is a graduate of New Egypt High School, was recognized in the Outstanding Investigative Feature or Program category for radio students.
Her piece, “Skin Deep: The Rise of Self- Harm,” which aired last spring on Hofstra’s radio station WRHU-FM, examined “cutting.”
Tang, 21, said she spoke with students who used self-harm as a “way to escape their pain and suffering.” Students used razors to cut themselves to deal with depression, and their goal was to “end their lives,” she said.
Tang, who is a journalism major with a minor in English and a concentration in broadcast journalism, has been involved with radio since her freshman year in college.
She is currently an intern at CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” and has previously interned at MTV, Fox and NBC. Tang has also held positions as an assistant news editor and a host at WRHU, and as a producer and correspondent for a campus television program, “Hofstra Today.”
Fran Spencer, executive producer of the radio station’s “A League of Our Own” program, supported Tang on the project.
She described Tang as “fearless” in her ability to follow through on stories. Yet, Spencer said, Tang is able to show “a lot of compassion for someone her age.”
“Elisa is very down-to-earth, grounded, gracious and talented,” Spencer said.
Tang said she feels thankful for the the support she has received.
“I am also extremely grateful for the support and guidance of John Mullen and Fran Spencer, the two mentors from WRHU who helped me through the entire process of submitting my piece for the award,” she said.
Tang said she hopes to land a position as a digital news producer upon graduation in the spring.
“Digital is evolving,” she said.
Tang will receive her Gracie Award at a luncheon in New York City on June 22.
The Alliance for Women in Media is a nonprofit professional organization working to advance the impact of women in the media industry.