Teen celebrity journalist wins 2016 National Student Gracie Award

Photo Credit (The Gracies)

Teen Celebrity journalist and Insider Cassandra Hsiao won her first Gracie Award in the Online Video Host-Student category by the Alliance for Women In Media Foundation (AWMF). Cassandra joins the rank of past professional winners including Amy Poehler, Barbara Walters, Betty White, Tina Fey, Meredith Vieira, Selena Gomez, Maya Angelou and many more.

Each year, the Gracies attract the best and brightest in radio, television, cable, and new media. The Gracies recognize exemplary programming created for women, by women, and about women in all facets of electronic media, as well as individuals who have made contributions to the industry. The awards program also encourages the realistic and multifaceted portrayal of women in entertainment, news, features, and other programs.

The Gracies are presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWM), a charitable non-profit and the philanthropic arm of AWM which supports educational programs, charitable activities, public service campaigns and scholarships to benefit the public and women in the media.

Hsiao will be honored with other local, digital, public and student award winners at the 41st Annual Gracie Awards Luncheon to be held on June 21 at Cipriani on 42nd Street in New York.

“I’m so honored to be recognized by this organization by women for women,” said Hsiao, a high school junior attending Orange County School of the Arts. “These awards shine light on the contributions of women to media. I thank God for giving me so many opportunities to pursue my passions and my editors for taking a chance on me.”

Hsiao is 16 years old and a Film Editor for Crixit.com, a Star Reporter for Fanlala.com, BYOUmagazine.com, and LA Times High School Insider journalist. She reviews films for kids and teens, attends media screenings, film festivals, red-carpets, and press conferences, and conducts print and on-camera interviews with hundreds of celebrities since the age of 11.

She has interviewed TV and movie celebrities including Billy Crystal, Morgan Freeman, Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Dane Cook, Shailene Woodley, Amy Poehler, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Disney Channel stars, popular singers including Justin Bieber, R5, and The Wanted, directors including Dexter Fletcher, Dean Deblois, Jennifer Lee, Rob Marshall and Klay Hall, authors including Andy Weir, Jesse Andrews, and Rick Riordan, journalists including MSNBC News anchor Richard Lui and talk show host James Corden, along with Kermit the Frog and many others.

Besides being a journalist, Cassandra serves as an editor for her high school’s award-winning art and literary magazine. She is the co-president for her high school’s Spoken Word and Poetry Club. On the national level, she has won a Gold Medal in Poetry from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. She was also selected as a semi-finalist for 2015 National Student Poets Program, the nation’s highest honor for youth poets presenting original work. She has been recognized as a semi-finalist for national playwriting competitions held by The Blank Theatre. Her poetry, essays and reviews have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, TeenReads, Jet Fuel Review, Feminine Inquiry, Aerie International, the HOBY Blog and more. She is also a philanthropist, organize food drive for a non-profit international outreach ministry combats hunger in Haiti and Dominican Republic.

2016 Gracies Winners: Press Release with Gala & Lunch Winners

ABOUT THE GRACIE AWARDS

The Gracie Awards, established in 1975, honor outstanding programming by, for and about women and individuals of the highest caliber in all facets of radio, television, cable and web-based media including: news, drama, comedy, public service, documentary and sports. National and digital winners will be honored at the 41st Gracies Awards Gala, May 24 at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, California. Local, public and student winners in radio and TV will be honored at the Gracies Awards Luncheon, June 21, 2016 in Cipriani in N.Y.C. For the latest information, please follow the Gracies Awards on Facebook: The Gracies and Twitter: @TheGracies  Visit the website: http://allwomeninmedia.org