The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications' Climate Change Nebraska project swept up 11 awards – five for first place and six for second – in a regional competition honoring the best in student journalism.
The awards were announced Saturday, April 10, at the Society of Professional Journalists’ annual convention and included entries from students at colleges and universities in Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.
The UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications’ depth reporting project garnered awards across a wide range of categories – from newspaper feature writing, general news and depth reporting to online feature writing, online depth reporting and the best online website. Five of the stories appeared in the Lincoln Journal Star at the end of last year.
Winning entries from UNL students included: Dylan Patrick (“The Politics of Climate Change”); Brittni McGuire (“Colorado Construction Cranes May Harm Nebraska’s Sandhill Cranes”); Sophia Svanda (“Rising Temperatures Put Heat on Nebraska’s $7 Billion Corn Industry”); Grace Gorenflo (“Experts: Climate Poses Significant Public Health Threat”) and Meera Patel (“Climate Change Nebraska” website.)
The five UNL regional winners are now eligible for the national competition against winners from the other 11 regions. The SPJ national champions will be announced in May.
The year-long “Climate Change Nebraska” depth-reporting project was overseen by UNL professors Joe Starita and Jennifer Sheppard, adjunct professor Lauryn Higgins and graduate student, Jim Synder. The website can be found at: climatechangenebraska.com.
