Work by Drake students has advanced to the national competition in the Society of Professional Journalists’ Mark of Excellence contest. Honors include best sports reporting, best online student publication, and three photography awards.
The winners were announced at the SPJ Region 7 conference on April 6. Region 7 includes universities and colleges in Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri. The first-place winners of all 12 regions will compete at the national level, and results will be announced in late spring.
Five Drake regional winners that advance to national competition:
- Jessie Spangler: Online Sports Reporting
- Urban Plains (the senior journalism capstone website): Best Independent Online Student Publication
- Lorien MacEnulty: Breaking news photography
- Grace Hulin: General News Photography
- JD Pelegrino: Sports Photography
Seven other projects were finalists at the regional competition:
- Samantha Ohlson: Online feature reporting
- Andrew Beall: Online sports reporting
- Jessica Spangler and Mitch Kedzior: Podcast
- Marie Nalan: Breaking news reporting
- Rachel James and Phong Ly: General news reporting
- Times-Delphic: Best All-Around Non Daily Student Newspaper
- Drake Magazine: Best Student Magazine
Kathleen Richardson, Journalism and Mass Communication