Giving Impact
Shaping the Future of Journalism
Angela Zhang ’25, Mateja Memorial Scholar
From Evanston to New York to Washington, DC, Northwestern University student Angela Zhang ’25 has pursued a passion for bringing the truth to light. Zhang, a journalism and political science major, has reported on issues ranging from local and national politics to student life. In honing her craft, she has focused on addressing broad issues through people’s personal experiences. “What I aim to do is storytelling with empathy,” she says.
Financial support including the James L. Mateja Memorial Scholarship—awarded to a promising journalism student at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications each year—has helped propel Zhang forward. The fact that the scholarship is named for Mateja, a former Chicago Tribune reporter who spent decades covering the automotive industry, inspires Zhang. The financial assistance has also allowed her to explore avenues for sharpening her journalism skills outside the classroom.
“Beyond what the scholarship stands for, having the opportunity to focus on my reporting and goals for the future has been so powerful for me and my experience here,” she says.
Those experiences include working as a producer, news reporter, and anchor with the Northwestern News Network, the student broadcast station. In addition, Zhang spent fall quarter of her junior year in the Medill on the Hill program, reporting on national security, foreign policy, and immigration issues from Washington, DC. As a result of that immersion, she produced a short documentary about a DC family’s immigration journey, receiving a national honorable mention from the Asian American Journalists Association for student excellence in video storytelling and a Society of Professional Journalists regional award for television in-depth reporting.
More recently, Zhang had the opportunity to complete a summer internship at MSNBC, where she worked on popular programs Alex Wagner Tonight and The Rachel Maddow Show. The experience allowed her to learn more about the behind-the-scenes operations of television news, from researching and fact-checking stories to production and graphics. Upon graduation, Zhang will begin a six-month internship with ABC7 Chicago’s investigative team.
Fluent in Chinese, Zhang has also worked as a summer intern with media companies in Beijing and Ohio. Along the way she has developed a particular interest in global issues in the US and China, kindling her aspiration to become an on-air foreign correspondent covering international relations. “I really hope to use my bilingual and storytelling background to not just inform my own reporting but also to build bridges between the Asian region and the US,” she says.
While she is laser-focused on her career goals, Zhang also finds time to sing with the Treblemakers (a student a cappella group), create artwork, and participate in Kappa Phi Lambda sorority and the Arch Scholars program on campus.
All these opportunities have shaped Zhang’s education and the path ahead. To the donors that make scholarships possible, she says, “I’d like to give a huge shout-out and great thank-you from the bottom of my heart, because you are the ones helping dreams become realities.”