The Society of Professional Journalists recognized the 2014 Mark of Excellence Awards winners from Region 7. University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications students won 10 awards in 10 different categories – a first for the university.
SPJ’s Region 7 comprises Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. Honorees received award certificates the weekend of March 28 at the Region 7 Spring Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. Winners will move on to the national MOE competition among category winners from the 12 SPJ regions.
National winners will be notified in the late spring and will be recognized at Excellence in Journalism 2015 (EIJ15) in Orlando, Florida, Sept. 18 to 20. The awards are judged by professionals with at least three years of journalism experience.
The awards honor the best in student journalism. As such, judges were directed to choose only those entries that they felt were outstanding work worthy of such an honor. If the judges determined that none of the entries rose to the level of excellence, no award was given. Any category not listed has no winner. The MOE Awards honor the best of collegiate journalism from a calendar year.
School divisions are based on student enrollment, which includes both graduate and undergraduate enrollment: Large schools have more than 10,000 students and small schools have fewer than 9,999 students.
NEWSPAPERS
Feature Writing (Large)
Winner: “At home in America” by Mara Klecker, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Finalist: “A stable relationship? By Mara Klecker, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
In-Depth Reporting (Large)
Finalist: “The engineered foods debate” by Sam Aspnes, Angela Hensel, Conor Dunn and Elisabeth Arneson, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Breaking News Reporting (Large)
Winner: “Deaths a shock to Saco, Maine” by Faiz Siddiqui, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Sports Writing (Large)
Winner: “Former Husker football player overcomes drug addiction” by Chris Heady, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Finalist: “Gymnast cheated death, then became a Husker” by Chris Heady, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Best Student Magazine
Winner: “Native daughter’s Oklahoma” by the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
RADIO
Radio News Reporting
Winner: “A big, small business boom in Lincoln” by Chelsea Eaton, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
TELEVISION
Television General News Reporting
Winner: “Drone stand-off between journalists and the F.A.A.” by Chelsea Eaton, Star City News, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Finalist: “Maury Lorence; A death to ponder” by Haley Herzog, Star City News, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Television In-Depth Reporting
Winner: “Election night 2014 live coverage” by Star City News Staff, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Best All-Around Television Newscast
Finalist: “Star City News” by staff, Time-Warner Educational Access Channel, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
ONLINE
Online Feature Reporting
Winner: “Saving Sisay” by Faiz Siddiqui, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Online In-Depth Reporting
Winner: “Behind the veil” by Brianna Soukup, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Best Affiliated Web Site
Winner: NewsNetNebraska.org by staff, NewsNetNebraska, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. For more information about SPJ, please visit www.spj.org.
