Joselin Joseph awarded prize by Military Reporters & Editors
WASHINGTON — During its annual conference for journalists, Military Reporters & Editors presented awards to winners of its 2025 MRE Journalism Contest. Former Marine and contributing writer for The Hill, Jos Joseph earns MRE’s Best Commentary/Opinion (Division 1) award for opinions expressed on the realities of life in the military and service.
Award Summary
Five opinion articles on service and the military, The Hill, 8/12/2024 – 6/18/2025
Prize Category: Best Commentary/Opinion Division 1, Text journalism published in traditional print or online media.
Best work by a columnist who writes about topics covering the military, national security, or homeland defense on a regular basis, published by a news organization with more than 20 reporters.
Judges’ Comments:
Joseph won for his collection of five stories, including “Women, gays, transgender and queer Americans serve in the military because men won’t” looking at the reality of military recruitment and the value and strength of diversity. As a former Marine, one of his tasks had involved personnel and decisions to send people into war. A lot of patriotic men don’t want to join the All Volunteer Forces now and are scared to go, he wrote, while “a lot of women and gay and transgender and queer Americans aren’t.” This story and others in the collection showed a sharp knowledge of the realities of life in the service — who goes, what they do, and why — at a time when diversity, equity and inclusion are under attack. His reporting demonstrates while the services are begging white men to join, many women and gay, bisexual and transgender folks are very willing to serve, and they have risen to the occasion honorably in combat. Among his other pieces was a thoughtful look at the service of J.D. Vance and Tim Waltz and how, despite political attacks on both men for not being in combat, they should be respected for taking time out of their lives and away from their families to serve, period. Joseph also wrote a thoughtful piece on the politicization of the military and the lack of meaningful civilian oversight, especially from Congress, to stop it.
Read the Winning Articles
- Opinion 1: Tim Walz was never Rambo. JD Vance wasn’t either. And that is OK., The Hill (8/12/2024)
- Opinion 2: Debunking the myth of the military welfare queen The Hill (12/16/2024)
- Opinion 3: Women, gays, transgender and queer Americans serve in the military because men won’t The Hill (1/24/2025)
- Opinion 4: The war on diversity is also a war on veterans The Hill (3/23/2025)
- Opinion 5: Where is the civilian oversight of the military? The Hill (6/18/2025)
*Article authored by Rachael Bade, Daniel Lippman, Jack Detsch and Paul McCleary
Journalist Biography
Joslin Joseph
Joslin Joseph is a Marine Corps veteran who has been writing about the military and veteran experience since 2020. He got his start under Tessa Robinson at We Are the Mighty where he wrote articles ranging from topics such as current events, movies, sports, and historical events. Deciding to expand his writing base, Joslin was able to start writing political commentary for The Hill in 2024 where he now has a weekly opinion column.
Joslin recently graduated from Harvard University with a Masters in Liberal Arts through the Harvard Extension School. He also has a Masters from the University of Redlands and a Bachelors from Ohio State University. He served in the Marines from 2004-2008 and is a veteran of the Iraq war. He currently resides in Anaheim, California.