Journalism Students Move On to National Competition

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Five students in the Walter J. Lemke department of journalism placed first in the large school division at this month’s regional Mark of Excellence Awards, automatically entering them into the national competition.

First place winners with links to their entries include:

• Jack Suntrup – In-Depth Reporting: “Last of the Southern Democrats”
• Eddie Gregg – Feature Writing: “An Arkansas DREAMer: One Man’s Journey”
• Sarah Guinn – Non-fiction Magazine Article: “Beyond the Rubble: Surviving the Tornado”
• Caleb Rountree – Television General News Reporting: “Miss U of A DWI”
• Clint Fullen – Online In-Depth Reporting: “Steering to Success”

The Society of Professional Journalists awards the regional prizes annually during the society’s spring conferences.  First place winners move on to a national contest where they compete against the category winners from the society’s other 11 regions. National winners will be notified in the late spring and recognized at the Excellence in Journalism 2013 conference August 24-26 in Anaheim, Calif. National winners will also be showcased on spj.org.

The Mark of Excellence Awards honor the best in student journalism from a calendar year. The contest includes categories for print, radio, television and online collegiate journalism.

Seven other journalism students received second or third place awards April 6 at the Society of Professional Journalists Region 12 Spring Conference. Region 12 includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. The 2013 conference was held at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. Katherine Shurlds, journalism instructor in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, serves as adviser for the University of Arkansas chapter.