Cronkite School Wins SPJ Contest for 15th Consecutive Year

For the 15th year in a row, Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication is the top school in the regional Society of Professional Journalists’ Mark of Excellence Awards competition. The Cronkite School took first place with a total of 35 awards in the Region 11 contest, nearly twice as many as the second-place school. This included 15 first-place student entries, which was more than the second-, third- and fourth-place schools combined. Students in first place will proceed to the SPJ national competition. Cronkite swept three categories, taking the first place and finalist positions in Online In-depth Reporting, Television Breaking News Reporting and Television Sports Photography. “Winning the regional SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards 15 years in a row is a testament to our outstanding students and faculty,” said Cronkite School Associate Dean Kristin Gilger. “This year, as in previous years, our students took on challenging topics, including the Second Amendment, water policies and police body cameras.” Cronkite News, the school’s student-produced weekday newscast reaching 1.9 million households on Arizona PBS, was awarded the prestigious Best All-around Television Newscast as well as first-place finishes in six broadcast categories. In all, the newscast tallied 14 awards in the regional contest. Carnegie-Knight News21, a national multimedia investigative reporting initiative headquartered at Cronkite, captured three awards for its examination of gun rights and regulation in America. Portions of the investigation were published by The Washington Post, nbcnews.com and dozens of other national media outlets. The State Press, ASU’s student news operation, won four awards, including Best Digital-only Student Publication. The Downtown Devil, an online publication focused on Phoenix and the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus, secured three awards, including Best Independent Online Student Publication. Cronkite students also captured six sports journalism awards in television, radio, photography and newspaper contest divisions. This year’s regional contest attracted entries from college journalism students in Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada. The awards were presented at the SPJ regional conference April 18 in San Francisco. Winners of the regional SPJ competitions go on to another round of judging in the national SPJ competition. Those winners will be announced in late spring and recognized on Sept. 19 at the annual SPJ convention in Orlando, Fla. In eight of the past nine years, Cronkite has outperformed all other schools in the national competition. The Society of Professional Journalists is the nation’s most broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior. Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry through the daily work of its nearly 10,000 members. The complete list of Cronkite’s regional SPJ winners: TELEVISION BROADCAST Best All-around Television Newscast Winner: Cronkite News, Kelsey Tardio and Brittany Ducksworth Television Breaking News Reporting Winner: Megan Thompson, “Record Rainfall in the Desert,” Cronkite News Finalist: Brittany Bade, “Secret Service Director Gets Grilled,” Cronkite News Finalist: Mackenzie Scott, “Same-Sex Marriage Now Legal in Arizona,” Cronkite News Television General News Reporting Winner: Tara Molina, “Mesa Police Body Camera,” Cronkite News Finalist: Investigation: Vivian Padilla, “Prescription Pills Can Be Gateway Drug to Heroin Addiction,” Cronkite News Television In-depth Reporting Winner: Vondalynn Dias, “Arizona’s Water Future,” Cronkite News Television Sports Reporting Winner: Kari Osep, “Concussions: It’s a Girl Thing, Too,” Cronkite Sports on FOX Sports Arizona Finalist: Arianna Grainey, “Phoenix Sports Mecca,” Cronkite News Television Sports Photography Winner: Kari Osep, “The Greener Golf Ball,” Cronkite News Finalist: Robby Baker, “Witt Twins,” Cronkite News Television Feature Reporting Finalist: Megan Guthrie, “Armless Athlete Rides in El Tour de Tucson,” Cronkite News Television News and Feature Photography Finalist: Shayne Dwyer, “Backyard Bike Shop,” Cronkite News Finalist: Megan Thompson, “Local Dairy Takes a Page from the Past for Future Products,” Cronkite News ONLINE Best Digital-only Student Publication Winner: The State Press, Danielle Grobmeier, Julia Shumway, Sean Logan Finalist: Carnegie-Knight News21, “Gun Wars: A News21 Investigation of Rights and Regulations in America” Best Independent Online Student Publication Winner: Downtown Devil Online In-depth Reporting Winner: Cronkite News, “Arizona’s Water Future” Finalist: Jessica Boehm, “Downwind,” Cronkite School thesis project Finalist: Lauren Loftus and Natalie Krebs, “Women Emerge as a Forceful Voice in the Business of Defending Firearms,” Carnegie-Knight News21 Online Feature Reporting Winner: Laura Sposato and Yihyun Jeong, “A Way of Life” Finalist: Lauren Loftus and Alex Lancial, “Midwives Combine Tradition and Science to Curb Maternal Deaths in Chiapas,” Cronkite Southwest Borderlands Initiative Online News Reporting Finalist: Emilie Eaton and Camaron Stevenson, Cronkite News package including: “Arizona Keeping Pace with Some Countries’ Militaries in Terms of Gear” and “Game and Fish Got State’s Fourth-highest Value of Surplus Military Gear” Best Use of Multimedia Finalist: Carnegie-Knight News21, “Gun Wars: A News21 Investigation of Rights and Regulations in America” Online Opinion & Commentary Finalist: Molly Bilker, Julie Akerly and Faith Miller, “The Curtain Critic,” Downtown Devil NEWSPAPERS Sports Writing Winner: Kristen Hwang, “Phoenix-Area Golf Courses Continue to Struggle,” Cronkite News General News Reporting Finalist: Nicholas Palomino Mendoza, “Students Seek Clarity, Closure in Student-Professor Relationship Investigations,” The State Press In-depth Reporting Finalist: Emilie Eaton, “Central American Minors Pushed North by Poverty, Violence, Hopes for Refuge,” Cronkite Southwest Borderlands Initiative Editorial Writing Finalist: The State Press RADIO BROADCAST Radio In-depth Reporting Winner: Peter Haden, “Bad Apps Target Smartphone Users,” KJZZ News Radio Sports Reporting Winner: Peter Haden, “Race Fans Flock for the ‘Almost-Crashes,’” KJZZ News ART/GRAPHICS General News Photography Winner: Jessie Wardarski, “Church Members Pray for Liberia’s Healing from Ebola,” The Arizona Republic Sports Photography Winner: Ben Moffat, “Shaquielle McKissic’s Double-Double Powers ASU Men’s Basketball Past Pepperdine,” The State Press Breaking News Photography Finalist: Connor Radnovich, “Businesses, Community Members Respond to Passage of Religious Service Refusal Bill,” Downtown Devil Feature Photography Finalist: Connor Radnovich, “A Story of ALS,” Phoenix New Times