Marlboro College Junior Wins The New York Times 'Modern Love' College Essay Contest

Business Wire, May 2, 2008

Essay To Be Published May 4 and Posted on NYTimes.com and mtvU.com

NEW YORK -- The New York Times announced today the winner and four finalists of the first Modern Love college essay contest. Marguerite Fields, a junior at Marlboro College in Marlboro, Vt., will have her winning essay published in a special Modern Love column on May 4 and on NYTimes.com. Ms. Fields' essay on the dating scene and lack of commitment among college students was selected from more than 1,200 submissions, representing 365 colleges and universities from around the country.

Ms. Fields will also be featured on mtvU, MTV's 24-hour college network, and on mtvU.com. She will receive a $1,000 award as well.

The four finalists are: Lee Conell, State University of New York, New Paltz; Roger Hobbs, Reed College, Portland, Ore.; Owen Powell, American Military University, an online university; and Joel Walkowski, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Their essays will be published on successive Sundays in the Styles section of The New York Times and on NYTimes.com from May 18 to June 8. The finalists' essays offer a varied perspective on relationships, from a soldier touring Baghdad and his infatuation with a celebrity to a self-described geek reinventing himself into an Internet Casanova.

"We were impressed by the number of essays we received and their quality," said Daniel Jones, Modern Love editor at The New York Times. "Writing honestly about one's own relationships is a challenge at any age, but to be young and exploring one's current circumstance can be especially difficult. These students met the challenge with intelligence and grace."

Launched in October 2004, the Modern Love column appears in the Sunday Styles section of The New York Times. Writers are invited to submit personal essays on a wide range of relationship experiences including marriage, personal loss, dating, divorce and parenthood.

A book of the best essays from the column, "Modern Love: 50 True and Extraordinary Tales of Desire, Deceit and Devotion," edited by Daniel Jones, is available at bookstores and online at NYTStore.com.

The New York Times reached 20.3 million unduplicated readers in the United States in March 2008 via the weekday and Sunday newspaper, and also via NYTimes.com (sources: Nielsen Online @Plan Spring 2008; Nielsen Online NetView, US Home and Work, March 2008; and MRI Fall 2007).

About The New York Times Company

The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2007 revenues of $3.2 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 16 other daily newspapers, WQXR-FM and more than 50 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.

About mtvU

mtvU is the largest and most comprehensive media network just for college students. The channel is broadcast to more than 750 colleges across the country, with a combined enrollment of over 7.5 million, as well as on cable systems from Charter Communications, Verizon FiOS TV, Suddenlink Communications, AT&T u-Verse and nearly 70 others - reaching 2.6 million viewers in 700 college communities nationwide. More information on the network is available at mtvU.com.

This press release can be downloaded from www.nytco.com.