The Pendulum, Elon University’s student newspaper, and Phoenix14News, Elon’s student newscast, were honored March 31 with Mark of Excellence Awards at the Society of Professional Journalists Region 2 conference at Elon University.
Region 2 awards were given in newspaper, TV, radio and online categories. Awards are given only to those who place in the top three in the region. First-place winners at the regional level move on to the national competition, at which time they will compete with 11 other first-place regional finishers. Region 2 comprises North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Delaware. Below is the list of winners and where they placed in specific categories.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION—4-YEAR COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY
1. Heather Cassano for “Defining Diversity: Campus grapples with response to discrimination”
TELEVISION BREAKING NEWS REPORTING—4-YEAR COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY
1. David Hodges for “Tornado thrashes Shaw”
BEST ALL-AROUND NON-DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER—4-YEAR COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY
2. The Pendulum
BEST ALL-AROUND TELEVISION NEWSCAST—4-YEAR COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY
2. Phoenix14News
SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY—4-YEAR COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY
2. Al Drago for “Phoenix to face No. 1 Georgia Southern”
BREAKING NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY—4-YEAR COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY
2. Brian Allenby for “Bin Laden announced dead”
GENERAL NEWS REPORTING—4-YEAR COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY
2. Kassondra Cloos for “‘No’ means no, but interpretation of effective consent differs at Elon”
TELEVISION GENERAL NEWS REPORTING—4-YEAR COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY
2. David Hodges for “Education migrant farmworker children”
TELEVISION FEATURE REPORTING—4-YEAR COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY
3. Scarlett Fakhar for “Red Dog Animal Farm Rescue Network”
FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY—4-YEAR COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY
3. Claire Esparros for “HAIR tackles timeless social issues through song, passion”
BEST AFFILIATED WEB SITE—4-YEAR COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY
3. The Pendulum Online
Several Elon students, staff and faculty helped organize this year’s conference, which was held in North Carolina for the first time in the region’s history. Coordinator of Student Media Colin Donohue, Communications associate professors Anthony Hatcher and Rich Landesberg, and students Anna Johnson, Kate Riley, Becky Wickel, Rebecca Smith, Rachel Southmayd and Madelyn Smith began planning the conference during the fall semester. Many more students acted as volunteers throughout the daylong event.
The conference was headlined by an opening panel discussion on religion and politics, the MOE awards luncheon, a keynote address by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Walter Mears and breakout sessions throughout the day.