Region 12 Mark of Excellence Awards winners announced

Home > SPJ News > Region 12 Mark of Excellence Awards winners announced

4/20/2020

Contacts:

Matthew Kent, SPJ Program Coordinator, 317-920-4788, mkent@spj.org
Ashlynn Neumeyer, SPJ Communications Coordinator, 317-361-4133, aneumeyer@spj.org

INDIANAPOLIS — The Society of Professional Journalists recognizes the best collegiate journalism in Region 12 with 2019 Mark of Excellence Awards winners.

SPJ’s Region 12 comprises Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. First-place winners will compete at the national level among other regional MOE winners from the 12 SPJ regions.

Regional winners would normally be recognized at regional conferences, however, all SPJ Regional Conferences have been either canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Regional winners have been notified by email and will receive their award certificates via mail.

National winners will be notified in the late spring.

MOE Awards entries are judged by professionals with at least three years of journalism experience. Judges were directed to choose entries they felt were among the best in student journalism. If no entry rose to the level of excellence, no award was given. Any category not listed has no winner.

School divisions are based on student enrollment, including both graduate and undergraduate: Large schools have at least 10,000 students and small schools have 9,999 or fewer students.

The list below details all Region 12 winners. If you have any questions regarding the MOE Awards, contact Program Coordinator Matthew Kent via email or 317-920-4788.

This list reflects the spelling and titles submitted in the award entries. New MOE categories this year include Immersion Journalism, Data Visualization and Collaborative Journalism.

Newspapers

Breaking News Reporting (Large) 10,000+ Students
Winner: Football player plays game with concussion symptoms – by Miranda Stith, University of Arkansas
Finalist: Nonprofit members lead circumcision protest on UA campus – by Kate Duby, University of Arkansas
Finalist: Women’s athletics receive less funding, lower salaries – by Grant Lancaster, University of Arkansas

Breaking News Reporting (Small) 1-9,999 Students
Winner: One dead in Hard Rock Hotel collapse – by Lily Cummings and Andres Fuentes, Loyola University New Orleans
Finalist: Sexual battery at The Boot, third incident linked to the bar this semester – by Erin Snodgrass, Loyola University New Orleans

General News Reporting (Large) 10,000+ Students
Winner: Boyce worked at ‘segregation academies’ – by Daniel Payne, Eliza Noe and Kenneth Niemeyer, University of Mississippi
Finalist: 26 reports of bias – by Daniel Payne, University of Mississippi
Finalist: Visually impaired student difficulties at LSU – by Anna Jones, Louisiana State University.

General News Reporting (Small) 1-9,999 students
Winner: Student activists move to end condom ban on campus – by Gabriella Killett and Caroline Budd, Loyola University New Orleans
Finalist: Sexual assault suspect released on bond – by Erin Snodgrass, Loyola University New Orleans

In-Depth Reporting (Large) 10,000+ Students
Winner: Construction, repair backlog – by Anna Jones and Rachel Mipro, Louisiana State University
Finalist: BDSM community educates members, bands together – by Halie Brown, University of Arkansas
Finalist: Vaping epidemic leaving students concerned for their health, Ava Perego, Raymond Constatino, Kristen Singleton and Falon Brown, Louisiana State University

In-Depth Reporting (Small) 1-9,999 students
Winner: College students turn to wax marijuana concentrates to get high – by Rose Wagner, Loyola University New Orleans
Finalist: Faking it: Students use fake IDs to circumvent drinking laws – by Erin Snodgrass, Loyola University New Orleans

Feature Writing (Large) 10,000+ Students
Winner: Woman works to preserve Bogalusa home turned headquarters of civil rights group – by Jace Mallory, Caroline Fenton and Brennen Normand, Louisiana State University
Finalist: ‘I got a career from the Daily Beacon’: Marshall Ramsey reflects on newsroom career, time at UT – by Kylie Hubbard, University of Tennessee

Feature Writing (Small) 1-9,999 Students
Winner: Nightmare bar scene plays out Uptown for senior – by Emma Ruby, Loyola University New Orleans
Finalist: Loyola musicians find a home in Tulane’s marching band – by Rose Wagner, Loyola University New Orleans

General Column Writing (Large) 10,000+ Students
Winner: Cecile Girard, Louisiana State University
Finalist: Jasmine Edmonson, Louisiana State University

Sports Writing (Large) 10,000+ Students
Winner: Cannon connection – by Reed Darcey, Louisiana State University
Finalist: Living as the underdog – by Tyler Lamb, Middle Tennessee State University
Finalist: Clyde Edwards-Helaire embodies underdog mentality that makes LSU special – by Brandon Adam, Louisana State University

Editorial Writing
Winner: Caleb Greene, Louisiana State University
Finalist: Gabriela Carballo, Loyola University New Orleans

Best All-Around Non-Daily Student Newspaper
Winner: The Daily Mississippian – by Staff of The Daily Mississippian, University of Mississippi
Finalist: Loyola Maroon – by Staff of Loyola Maroon, Loyola University New Orleans
Finalist: Reveille – by Staff of Reveille, Louisiana State University

Magazines

Non-Fiction Magazine Article
Winner: The problem with purity – by Karen Sue McKenzie, University of Arkansas
Finalist: Big ticket drug – by Rachel Roberts, University of Arkansas
Finalist: Chickasaw enough – by Bethany Dedman, University of Arkansas

Best Student Magazine
Winner: Hill Magazine – by Staff of Hill Magazine, University of Arkansas

Art/Graphics

Breaking News Photography (Large) 10,000+ Students
Winner: Hard Rock implosion – by Andres Fuentes, Loyola University New Orleans
Finalist: Historic homecoming king election – by Billy Schuerman, University of Mississippi

Feature Photography (Small) 1-9,999 Students
Winner: Running of the bulls – by Andres Fuentes, Loyola University New Orleans
Finalist: Zombe actress – by Michael Bauer, Loyola University New Orleans
Finalist: CMA Fest 2019 – by Mckenzi Harris, Lipscomb University

General News Photography (Small) 1-9,999 Students
Winner: Water main break – by Alexandria Whitten, Loyola University New Orleans

Sports Photography (Large) 10,000+ Students
Winner: Spike – by Billy Schuerman, University of Mississippi

Sports Photography (Small) 1-9,999 Students
Winner: Cross country runner – by Sabelo Jupiter, Loyola University New Orleans
Finalist: Lipscomb guard K.J. Johnson drives against Belmont – by McKenzi Harris, Lipscomb University

Radio

Radio Feature
Winner: Acoustic pickin’ party – by Kathryn Farris, Lipscomb University

Radio News Reporting
Winner: Emmett Till memorial rededicated – by Will Stribling, University of Mississippi
Finalist: Our town – by Erik Piccoli, Louisiana State University
Finalist: Experimental Music-Gabe – by Erik Piccoli, Louisiana State University

Television

Television General News Reporting
Winner: Art theft – by Brian Williams, Southeastern Louisiana University
Finalist: MTSU aerospace students and paper airplanes take to the sky – by Megan Cole, Middle Tennessee State University
Finalist: Businesses and residents affected by Hard Rock Hotel collapse – by Tess Rowland, Loyola University New Orleans

Television Breaking News Reporting
Winner: One dead in Hard Rock Hotel collapse – by Lily Cummings, Loyola University New Orleans
Finalist: Murfreesboro domestic assault – by Megan Cole, Middle Tennessee State University
Finalist: 5 people murdered across 2 parishes – by Trey Couvillion, Louisiana State University

Television Feature Reporting
Winner: Juliana Puipuro – by Kaylee Normand, Southeastern Louisiana University
Finalist; July 4th in Baton Rouge – by John Williams, Southeastern Louisiana University
Finalist: An uncanny career – by Britt Lofaso, Louisana State University

Television In-Depth Reporting
Winner: Falling apart – by Hunter Lovell, Louisiana State University
Finalist: Concern about quality of drinking water in Lafayette County – by Skye Spiehler and Brianna Florez, University of Mississippi

Television Sports Reporting
Winner: Jaclyn Scholvin – by Dylan Domangue, Southeastern Louisiana University
Finalist: Fair pay to play – by Zach Nunez, Louisiana State University
Finalist: MTSU football to honor late Doc Johns during 2019 season – by Megan Cole, Middle Tennessee State University

Best All-Around Television Newscast
Winner: UATV News – 12/9/2019 – by Staff of UATV, University of Arkansas
Finalist: NewsWatch Ole Miss – by Staff, University of Mississippi
Finalist: Northshore News – Nov. 1, 2019 – by Staff of Northshore News, Southeastern Louisiana University

Best All-Around Television News Magazine
Winner: Southeastern Times – Nov. 11, 2019 – by Kaylee Normand and John Sartori, Southeastern Louisiana University

Online

Online News Reporting
Winner: The emotional trauma of Hurricane Maria – by Devna Bose, University of Mississippi
Finalist: Farm bill to help Mississippian reclaim land – by Meagan Harkins, University of Mississippi
Finalist: Eating disorders and injuries in gymnastics – by Hannah McDuffie, Lousiana State University

Online Feature Reporting
Winner: The bird man – by Rachel Roberts, University of Arkansas
Finalist: Alumna credits campus pantry for bringing her out of food insecurity – by Karina Veira, University of Arkansas

Online In-Depth Reporting
Winner: Number of STI cases worst in four years nationwide – by Alex Nicoll, University of Arkansas

Online Sports Reporting
Winner: Donovan Sims: For each other – by Tyler Lamb, Middle Tennessee State University
Finalist: Oxford community benefits from travel teams – by Grant Gibbons and Carson McKinney, University of Mississippi
Finalist: Meet Lipscomb basketball’s dancing superfan, Conner Mirt – by Russell Vannozzi, Lipscomb University

Best Affiliated Web Site
Winner: The Daily Mississippian – by Staff of The Daily Mississippian, University of Mississippi

Best Independent Online Student Publication
Finalist: Lumination Network – by Erin Franklin and Mckenzi Harris, Lipscomb University

Best Use of Multimedia
Winner: Activism on the Ole Miss campus – by Staff, University of Mississippi
Finalist: Lauren Daigle wins big at 50th annual GMA’s Dove Awards hosted by Lipscomb – by Mckenzi Harris, Erika Plunkett and Kathryn Farris, Lipscomb University

Videography

Online/Digital News Videography
Winner: Vision wins presidential positions – by Elexis Houston, Kelsey French and Braxton Zilkowski, University of Tennessee

Online/Digital Sports Videography
Winner: Walk in my shoes: The Brad Anderson story – by Tyler Lamb, Middle Tennessee State University

Broadcast Feature Videography
Winner: Camp Moore – by Richie Solares, Southeastern Louisiana University
Finalist: Tiger TV covers BUKU – by Elise Girdwood, Louisiana State University

Broadcast News Videography
Winner: Mayor’s salary database – by Dylan Domangue, Southeastern Louisiana University

Broadcast Sports Videography
Winner: Southeastern vs. Northwestern State football – by Dylan Domangue, Southeastern Louisiana University

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