Students of the Merrill College were among some of the most lauded in the Society of Professional Journalists Region 2 Mark of Excellence Awards. Including the awards to the independent student newspaper, The Diamondback, Maryland students won 10 first place, 14 second and nine third place honors. The awards were presented at the regional conference on Saturday at Washington & Lee University.
The first place winners were:
General News Reporting: Kate Prahlad/CNS “Rural areas still expected to grapple with dial-up”
Sports Writing: Adi Joseph/DBK “Soccer match marred by late-game brawl”
Radio News Reporting: Eric Schaffer/Terp Weekly Edition “Good Samaritan”
Radio Feature: Becca Newell/Terp Weekly Edition “Hookah”
Radio Newscast: Terp Weekly Edition
Television General News Reporting: Lauren Effron/MD Newsline “Takoma Metro Package”
Television Feature: Dawn Cherie White/MD Newsline “Riversdale Slave History”
Television Feature Photography: Robert Richardson/MD Newsline “Rowing Commuter”
Online News Reporting: Arelis Hernandez, Rachel Mauro & Carrie Dindion/MD Newsline “UMD’s Neighbors: Towns in Flux”
Best Affiliated Web Site: Maryland Newsline Staff
All first place winners will advance to the national round of judging, which takes place next month.
Second and Third Place Winners were also named in the following categories.
General News Reporting:
• Second Place: Rick Docksai, University of Maryland, “Teacher/student ratio falls as funds grow”
• Third Place: Kristi Tousignant, University of Maryland, “University officials under fire”
Feature Writing:
• Second Place: Kristi Tousignat, University of Maryland, “Ashes to Ashe”
Editorial Cartooning:
• Second Place: Michael O’Brien, University of Maryland
Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper (published at least 4 times per week):
• Second Place: Staff, University of Maryland, “The Diamondback”
Radio News Reporting:
• Second Place: April Fehling, University of Maryland, “Election Day”
• Third Place: Walter Storholt, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “Distracted Driving”
Radio Features:
• Second Place: Shira Yudkoff, University of Maryland, “ROTC”
Radio In-Depth Reporting:
• Second Place: Erin Ruberry, University of Maryland, “Homelessness”
• Third Place: Yuk-Hang Ng, University of Maryland, “Going to Waste”
Radio Sports Reporting:
• Third Place: Heather Bartholomew, University of Maryland, “Paintball”
Television Breaking News:
• Second Place: Dawn Cherie White, University of Maryland, “Immigrant Social Security”
Television General News Reporting:
• Third Place: Matilda Bode, University of Maryland, “Medicaid Reform”
Television Feature:
• Second Place: Matilda Bode, University of Maryland, “Disabilities”
Television In-Depth Reporting:
• Third Place: George A. Jackson, IV, University of Maryland, “Immigrant Pay”
Television Sports Reporting:
• Third Place: Danny Rubin, University of Maryland, “D.C. Boxer”
Television News Photography:
• Second Place: Dawn Cherie White, University of Maryland, “Windsor Church Fire”
• Third Place: Erin Brennan, University of Maryland, “Pedestrian Safety”
Television Sports Reporting:
• Second Place: Max Brodsky & Toby Hershkowitz, University of Maryland, “Triathlete”
Online News Reporting:
• Second Place: Arelis Hernandez & David Byers, University of Maryland, “Race relations in wake of noose incident at UMD”
Online Feature Reporting:
• Second Place: Carrie Dindino, University of Maryland, “Transforming a West Baltimore Neighborhood”
Online In-Depth Reporting:
• Second Place: Diego Mantilla, Hortense M. Barber, Sylvie Safren & Andy Zieminski, University of Maryland, “Homeless in Maryland”
• Third Place: The Capital News Service & Maryland Newsline Staffs, University of Maryland, “Special Session: Budget Crisis”
Complete Region 2 Mark of Excellence results are available on the SPJ Web site.
