Students in Elon University's student news organizations were named winners and finalists in a regional Society of Professional Journalists awards contest.
The Pendulum and Elon Local News, Elon University’s student news media organizations, were honored March 28 with several Mark of Excellence Awards—including six regional winners—at the Society of Professional Journalists Region 2 conference at the University of Maryland.
Senior journalism major Al Drago was named a regional winner in four categories for work he did for the Raleigh News & Observer, the Baltimore Sun and Elon Local News. Senior journalism major and Pendulum opinions editor Katy Canada and junior journalism major and Pendulum editor in chief Michael Bodley were also named regional winners for work they did for The Pendulum.
Region 2 awards were given in newspaper, TV, radio, arts/graphics and online categories. Awards are given to regional winners and finalists, with the winners moving on to the national competition, at which time they will compete with winners from the other 11 regions. 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. (The “SMALL” designation indicates a university enrollment cut-off of 9,999 students.)
NEWSPAPER
- REGIONAL WINNER to senior Michael Bodley for Breaking News Writing (Small) for “Mold discovered in Elon’s Loy Center addressed by Physical Plant”
- REGIONAL WINNER to senior Katy Canada for In-Depth Writing (Small) for “Cutting master’s pay spells trouble for graduate programs, teachers”
- REGIONAL FINALIST to The Pendulum for Best All-Around Non-Daily Student Newspaper for its March 5, 2014, Oct. 7, 2014, and Nov. 19, 2014 editions.
- REGIONAL FINALIST to senior Katy Canada for General News Writing (Small) for “Cost of Elon fire alarms over budget, underfunded by university”
- REGIONAL FINALIST to junior Morgan Abate for Feature Writing (Small) for “From ensign to four-star admiral: Bill Gortney ’77 takes on new challenges to ‘defend the home'”
- REGIONAL FINALIST to sophomore Tommy Hamzik for Sports Writing (Small) for “Never back down: Nicole Denion kicks cancer”
ARTS/GRAPHICS
- REGIONAL WINNER to senior Al Drago for General News Photography for “Last Touch”
- REGIONAL WINNER to senior Al Drago for Feature Photography for “Festivus”
- REGIONAL WINNER to senior Al Drago for Breaking News Photography for “Waverly Shooting”
- REGIONAL WINNER to senior Al Drago for Sports Photography for “Eye Ball”
- REGIONAL FINALIST to senior Al Drago for General News Photography for “Pony Swim”
- REGIONAL FINALIST to senior Al Drago for Sports Photography for “Splash Jump”
TELEVISION
- REGIONAL FINALIST to Elon Local News for Best All-Around Television Newscast for its Nov. 24, 2014 show
ONLINE
- REGIONAL FINALIST to sophomore Andrew Feather for Online Sports for “Elon officially joins the Colonial Athletic Association”
- REGIONAL FINALIST to alumnae Stephanie Butzer ’14 and Carly Hildyard ’14 for Online News for “Murky waters: North Carolina wrestles to manage hog waste”
- REGIONAL FINALIST to alumna Caroline Olney ’14 for Online News for “Sacred silence: Tinnitus and the noise that never stops”
Colin Donohue, coordinator of student media and instructor, and Andrew Feather, sophomore journalism major and assistant sports director at Elon Local News, were in attendance to accept the awards.