As the issue of immigration once again commanded center stage of a national debate, the Philip Merrill College of Journalism focused on Mexico for its first international reporting course. Four graduate students traveled to Mexico for ten days to report in-depth magazine pieces. Their stories present a compelling view of why so many Mexicans risk their lives to illegally cross the border.

Americans view immigration as a threat; these four stories illuminate the reasons behind the swelling tide of migration that is transforming both the U.S. and Mexico. Time and again, reporters heard that if Mexicans could find a decent way to make a living they would gladly stay in their home country.

To read their work, visit www.merrill.umd.edu/dateline/

Students of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism were named national winners in two categories and finalists in four others of the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards.  All had advanced to the national round after winning first place in the Region 2 Mark of Excellence contest earlier this year.

Selected from more than 3,300 entries in 39 categories, the honorees will be presented their awards during SPJ’s annual convention in October at the Capitol Hill Hyatt Regency in Washington, D.C.

This year’s winners from the Merrill College are:

Radio Feature
National Winner: Eric Schaffer, “Shakespeare”

TV General News Reporting
National Winner: Jackie Congedo, “Seasonal Workers”

Online News Reporting
National Finalist: Jennifer Fu, Nick Sekkas & Damon Curry, “Final Auction? Tobacco Industry Wanes in Maryland” 

Radio In-Depth Reporting
National Finalist: *Katey Welhouse, “Cocaine: The forgotten drug?”

Radio Sports Reporting
National Finalist: Josh Rosenthal, “Pumped Up”

TV Breaking News Reporting
National Finalist: Bonny Ghosh, “Beltway Accident”

The National Association of Black Journalists has chosen Mara Schiavocampo (MA ‘03) as their Emerging Journalist of the Year. This Special Honors Award will be presented at the Salute to Excellence Awards Gala during NABJ’s annual convention in August. Mara is a freelance contributor for various news outlets including Current TV and ABC News. Her work can be seen at www.marasonline.net.

Jad Melki, a graduate student at the Merrill College, was on the team which won the news/documentary/public service award in the 11th annual Webby awards. Melki assisted Kevin Sites, the innovative solo journalist (or SoJo) who reports from the world’s hotspots for Yahoo! news.

Melki and Sites covered the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, reporting from southern Lebanon during the height of the Israeli offensive, as cities like Tyre and Bint Jbail were destroyed and a humanitarian crisis quickly developed. View the series here.