Cronkite student Lillian Donahue was among the winners in the Society of Professional Journalists’ Mark of Excellence Awards competition for Region 11. For the 18th year in a row, students at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication dominated the regional Society of Professional Journalists’ Mark of Excellence Awards competition.Cronkite students won 41 awards, one more than the combined total of the second-place, third-place and fourth-place schools in the SPJ Region 11 Contest. They took home 13 first-place awards and 28 finalist honors.Over the past decade, Cronkite students have tallied 458 awards in the contest, the most of any journalism program in the region, which includes Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Northern Mariana Islands and Nevada. “We’re very proud of our students and the faculty who guide them,” said Cronkite Senior Associate Dean Kristin Gilger. “They consistently produce work that not only wins contests but informs and educates readers and viewers all over the state and region.”The Cronkite School swept four SPJ categories: Broadcast Sports Videography; Online/Digital Sports Videography; Online Opinion & Commentary; and Television Sports Reporting. Cronkite News, the student-produced news division of Arizona PBS, produced winning entries for the sweeps in Broadcast Sports Videography andTelevision Sports Reporting. In all, Cronkite News collected 24 awards. Stories included in-depth coverage of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and the 2017 NCAA Men’s Final Four.Students also were recognized for “Querétaro: Promise of Prosperity for Mexico,” a multimedia reporting project that examined the complicated relationship between the U.S. and its southern neighbor. The project, which sent 20 students to one of the smallest states in Mexico, won in the Broadcast News Videography category and was a finalist in two other categories.“Hooked Rx: From Prescription to Addiction” took two awards – in Online News Reporting and Online In-Depth Reporting – for an examination of the growing opioid epidemic in Arizona. The project included a dozen digital stories as well as a documentary that aired on all major broadcast TV stations in the state and reached 900,000 people.ASU’s student-run media organizations also performed well in the contest. The Downtown Devil, an online publication focused on Phoenix and the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus, was named the Best Independent Online Student Publication and had two finalist honors in Online Opinion & Commentary. The State Press, ASU’s student news outlet, took first place in Online Opinion & Commentary and was a finalist in Online/Digital Sports Videography and Sports Column Writing.This year’s regional awards were presented at the SPJ Regional 11 Conference in Los Angeles on April 28. Winners of the 12 regional SPJ competitions go on to another round of judging in the national SPJ competition. Those winners will be announced at the Excellence in Journalism conference in Baltimore Sept. 27-29.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 has nearly 10,000 members.The complete list of Cronkite’s regional SPJ winners: Best Independent Online Student Publication Winner: Staff of Downtown Devil Breaking News Photography (Large) 10,000+ Students Winner: Dustin Quiroz, “Peace please,” Cronkite News Broadcast Feature Videography Winner: Kristina Vicario, Louisa Stanwich and Allie Barton, “MANZO”Broadcast News Videography Winner: Lillian Donahue, “Trade drives rise of middle class in Mexico,” Querétaro: Promise of Prosperity for Mexico Broadcast Sports Videography Winner: Tyler Paley, “Fighting for Fearlessness,” Cronkite NewsFinalist : Sydney Cariel, “Forrest Snow: Ball player by day, musician by night,” Cronkite News Finalist: Troy Lynch, “Swimming helps horses for race day,” Cronkite NewsOnline/Digital News Videography Winner: Melanie Abramoff, “Unstable ground in Pinal County,” Cronkite NewsOnline/Digital Sports VideographyWinner: Zac Pacleb, “GCU’s Russell gets ‘one shining moment’ on Final Four floor,” Cronkite NewsFinalist: Blake Benard, “A unique approach to training,” Cronkite NewsFinalist: Luis Torres, “ASU wins triathlon championship at home,” The State PressOnline Feature Reporting Winner: Kristina Vicario, “From right-hand man to a boss named Lefty,” MediumFinalist: Lillian Donahue, “75 years later, family able to honor USS Oklahoma sailor killed in Pearl Harbor attack,” Hawaii News NowOnline News Reporting Winner: Ryan Santistevan and Ben Moffat, “Opioid overdose deaths continue to mount,” Hooked Rx: From Prescription to Addiction Finalist: Megan Janetsky and Johanna Huckeba, “Mexicans work to reclaim corn as their own,” Querétaro: Promise of Prosperity for MexicoOnline Opinion & Commentary Winner: State Press Editorial Board, “Charlie Rose’s actions do not reflect excellence in journalism,”Finalist: Ryan Boyd, “Phoenix Rising” columns, Downtown Devil Finalist: Faith Miller and Serena O’Sullivan, “Curtain Critic” columns, Downtown DevilRadio In-Depth Reporting Winner: Adrienne St. Clair, “Mexicans and Americans – A complicated relationship,” Cronkite News Finalist: Adrienne St. Clair and Andrew Nicla, “In focus: DACA special report,” Cronkite NewsTelevision In-Depth ReportingWinner: Lillian Donahue, “Trade drives rise of middle class in Mexico,” Querétaro: Promise of Prosperity for MexicoTelevision Sports ReportingWinner: Tyler Paley, “Fighting for fearlessness,” Cronkite NewsFinalist: Kelly Broderick, “Ability360 uses basketball to inspire amputees,” Cronkite NewsFinalist: Troy Lynch, “Swimming makes horses better prepared for racing,” Cronkite News Best All-Around Television Newscast Finalist: Maya Patrose, Chase Boeke and Jade Nicole Yeban, Cronkite News: Nov. 16, 2017 newscastBest Use of Multimedia Finalist: Cassie Ronda, “Opioids and the body: the science of an overdose,” Cronkite NewsFeature Photography (Large) 10,000+ Students Finalist: Johanna Huckeba, “What’s one more?” Cronkite News Online In-Depth Reporting Finalist: Sophia Kunthara, “NAFTA changes would affect both sides of the border,” Querétaro: Promise of Prosperity for MexicoFinalist: Joshua Bowling, “Arizona’s emergency rooms have treated thousands of addicts hooked on opioids,” Hooked Rx: From Prescription to Addiction Online Sports Reporting Finalist: Brittany Bowyer, “The flipside of cheerleading: a prevalence of catastrophic injuries,” Cronkite News Online/Digital Feature VideographyFinalist: Blake Hemmel, “Innovative farming: Harvesting exotic plants in the Southwest,” Cronkite NewsFinalist: Kristina Vicario, “From right-hand man to a boss named Lefty,” MediumRadio FeatureFinalist: Roddy Nikpour, “In focus: Social media memorialization and ‘cybergraves,’” Cronkite NewsFinalist: Ben Flores and Tea Francesca Price, “In focus: Service dog helps navigate life with autism,” Cronkite NewsRadio News Reporting Finalist: Freesia DeNaples and Tea Francesca Price, “In focus: What defunding Planned Parenthood could mean for Arizonans,” Cronkite News Sports Column Writing Finalist: Paul Slobodzian, “ASU football should be able to attract top recruits; Phoenix is not the place to be for seasoned sports fans; CTE will be the end of football,” The State PressSports Photography (Large) 10,000+ StudentsFinalist: Blake Benard, “Barry Bonds remains center of attention in return to alma mater,” Arizona Sports Television Breaking News ReportingFinalist: Fortesa Latifi, “Steve Bannon comes to Tucson, hundreds protest,” Cronkite News Television Feature ReportingFinalist: Adriana De Alba, “Agricultural program helps Navajo students on reservation,” Cronkite News Finalist: Sydney Isenberg, “Firefighters train to pass annual physical fitness test,” Cronkite NewsTelevision General News Reporting Finalist: Drew Marine, “Battle over bison,” Cronkite News
Cronkite Students Dominate SPJ Regional Contest for 18th Consecutive Year
Thursday, May 3, 2018