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School of Journalism and New Media
University of Mississippi

Posts Tagged ‘Society of Professional Journalists’

Q & A with national Society of Professional Journalists winner Madison Scarpino

Posted on: April 29th, 2019 by ldrucker

University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media student Madison Scarpino will be honored for her 2018 work by the National Society of Professional Journalists.

Scarpino was the winner in the television breaking news category of the national SPJ competition. Her entry “Ole Miss community reacts to controversial Facebook post” aired on NewsWatch Ole Miss. In it, she explored both sides of the controversy.

SPJ Mark of Excellence judges pick one winner and up to two finalists in each category in the 12 regions, then the top winners in each region compete against one another for the national awards. All of the biggest and most prestigious universities enter SPJ.

We asked Scarpino a few questions about her win.

Q. How did you feel when you learned you won the award?

A. I was shocked at first. I never thought one of my news packages would get such recognition, especially on a national level. I feel so incredibly honored and humbled to have won.

Q. For those who don’t know, for which story did you win the award?

A. I won the breaking news category for the National Society of Professional Journalists. The news package that won was titled “Ole Miss Community Reacts to Controversial Facebook Post,” and it focused on the controversy surrounding Ed Meek’s arguably racist Facebook post.

Q. Why do you think the judges selected your story or work for this award?

A. I think the judges selected my story because it focused on an issue that is prevalent in today’s society. I also got opinions from both sides on the situation, whether being against or for Ed Meek’s post, to ensure the story was not biased.

Q. What are your career aspirations?

A. My dream in life is to host a national show and focus on soft news, entertainment, lifestyle, etc. I would absolutely love to be in front of the camera on a show such as “Good Morning America,” “The Today Show” or “E! News.” Regardless of where my career path takes me, I have such a passion for news and storytelling, so I would be happy with any on-camera reporting job.

Recent graduate Ariel Cobbert was also a finalist in the photography breaking news category of the national SPJ compeition. Cobbert is being honored for one of her Daily Mississippian photos from the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination anniversary event in Memphis.

If you are interested in joining the SPJ, email ldrucker@olemiss.edu to learn more.

UM journalism students win Broadcast Education Association, Associated Press and SPJ awards

Posted on: April 9th, 2019 by ldrucker

University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media students just keep winning awards.

The Broadcast Education Association has an annual Festival of Media Arts that garners thousands of entries from faculty and students nationwide.  This year, we have two national winners:

Brittany Brown

Long Form Video or Film Documentary Category

1st Place – “Hate in America” – Justin Parham, Scott Bourque, Brittany Brown and Jasmine Putney, of Arizona State University, the University of Mississippi and the University of Iowa were the winners. The winning entry came from the News21 Fellowship Brown received last year. You can watch the documentary at the link above.

Television Hard News Category

Award of Excellence – Ole Miss Alums and Students Deal with Aftermath of Hurricane Michael – Abbie McIntosh, University of Mississippi – This winning entry was the result of a school-sponsored reporting trip to Panama City, Florida this fall, right after the hurricane hit the Florida Panhandle.

“This is a really good showing in a BEA contest,” said UM professor Nancy Dupont, who has been involved in BEA for many years. “It’s tough to win anything from BEA because we’re competing with the best of the best.”

The winners receive their awards in Las Vegas at the annual BEA conference Festival of Media Arts celebration, an event that will be produced by UM School of Journalism and New Media students, including McIntosh, under the direction of professor Iveta Imre.

Regional Associated Press and Society of Professional Journalists Awards

The regional AP awards banquet was Saturday in Jackson. The regional SPJ awards banquet was March 30 in Nashville.

We’re proud The Daily Mississippian, NewsWatch and Rebel Radio each won first place awards in best all-around newspaper, television and radio categories in at least one of the two contests.

SPJ includes entries from student media in four states, and AP in two states. Competing against the top student media in our region, The Daily Mississippian won first place for best student newspaper in both SPJ and AP, and NewsWatch won first place awards for best newscast in both contests, and a second place award for general excellence in AP.

As more information becomes available, we will update this story.

AP First-place awards

The Daily Mississippian, General Excellence for newspapers

NewsWatch OleMiss, Newscast

Billy Schuerman, two first-place awards, for Spot News Photo and Sports Photo.

Billy Schuerman also won a prestigious Best of Show, which includes a cash award and is given to the most outstanding student for a specific media platform. Only six Best of Show awards were given out. Schuerman won for photos published in The Daily Mississippian in 2018. This academic  year, he is studying abroad in Austria.

Rebel Radio, General Excellence for radio stations

Victoria Hosey, two first-place awards, for Radio Reporter and Radio Continuing Coverage. Hosey graduated in December and is studying and working in China this year.

Tyler Hayes, Radio Sports Story

Andranita Williams, Radio Feature Story

DeAndria Turner, Radio News Story

Abbie McIntosh, TV Reporting

Alec Keyzer-Andre, Sam Gray, Gracie Snyder, TV Documentary

 

AP Second-place awards:

NewsWatch Ole Miss, General Excellence

The Daily Mississippian, Editorials (a series of three)

Abbie McIntosh, TV News Story

Victoria Hosey, two second-place radio awards for Newscast and a shared award with Will Stribling for Radio Continuing Coverage

Will Stribling, two second-place radio awards for Feature Story and News Story, and the shared Radio Continuing Coverage award with Victoria Hosey

 

And check out our recent story about the School of Journalism and New Media’s Society of Professional Journalists Awards.

UM journalism students win Society of Professional Journalists awards at Nashville conference

Posted on: April 1st, 2019 by ldrucker

Congratulations to the University of Mississippi students who won 13 awards for their 2018 work in the annual Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence contest.

The Region 12 conference and awards luncheon was Saturday, March 30, at Lipscomb University in Nashville. Region 12 includes four states – Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Arkansas.

Six UM student journalists – Grant McLaughlin, Carter Diggs, Grace Marion, Brooke McNabb, Sarah Liese, and Gracie Snyder – attended the conference that included workshops with many high achieving area journalists and networking opportunities.

Regional first-place winners automatically are entered into the national contest, competing against student winners in the other 11 regions.

In the newspaper and art/graphics/photo categories, SPJ separates entries from large schools and small schools, and our students compete in the categories for large universities.

Our Mark of Excellence first-place winners are:

The Daily Mississippian, best all-around daily newspaper

NewsWatch Ole Miss, best television newscast

Ariel Cobbert, breaking news photography (Honoring King’s legacy, Martin Luther King assassination 50th anniversary march)

Madison Scarpino, television breaking news (Ole Miss community reacts to controversial Facebook post)

Lasherica Thornton, breaking news reporting (article from her internship in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)

Victoria Hosey, radio news reporting (Meek social media post forum)

Hurricane Harvey reporting team (Italiana Anderson, Lana Ferguson, Victoria Hosey, Abbie McIntosh, MacKenzie Ross), best use of multimedia

SPJ picks one winner and two finalists in each category. Our finalists are:

Circle & Square staff, student magazine

The Daily Mississippian, breaking news reporting (Chancellor, campus leaders condemn post made by Ole Miss alumnus)

Victoria Hosey, radio feature (Michael Rish, hurricane survivor)

Billy Schuerman, general news photography (James Meredith photo from black alumni weekend)

Gracie Snyder, Sarah Liese, Lauren Conley, online in-depth reporting (African American students, faculty aim to make UM more inclusive)

Victoria Hosey, Abbie McIntosh, Madison Scarpino, online news reporting (Ole Miss student copies with the Hurricane Michael destruction of her hometown)

If you would like to become a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, contact UM SPJ Chapter President Grace Marion at spjumchapter@gmail.com.

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