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College of Media students recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists

WVU News students

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ)recognized College of Media students as winners and finalists in the Region 4 Mark of Excellence Awards this spring.

TheSPJawards honor the best in student journalism, and judges chose up to one national winner in each category and two national finalists (runners-up). Judges were directed to choose only those entries which they felt were outstanding work worthy of a national honor. Region 4 is comprised of Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and parts of Western Pennsylvania.

With their first-place wins, "WVU News"students Megan Weissend (Best All-Around Television Newscast),Macy Senge (Best All-Around Television News Magazine), Julia Mellett (Television Sports Reporting)and Regan Blaha (Television General News Reporting)will compete at the national level among other regionalwinners from the 12 SPJ regions. National winners will be notified in the late spring and will be recognized at the Excellence in Journalism conference in San Antonio.

List of winners:

Newspapers

Breaking News Reporting (Large) 10,000+ Students
Finalist: Pedestrian death – by Douglas Soule, Joe Severino and Jordyn Johnson, West Virginia University Sports

Writing (Large) 10,000+ Students
Finalist: Mountaineers love beer – by Douglas Soule, West Virginia University

Sports Column Writing
Finalist: Interviews with collegiate sports editors – by John Lowe, West Virginia University

Television

Television Breaking News Reporting
Finalist: March for our Lives’ movement – by Noelle Forde, West Virginia University

Television General News Reporting
Winner: Tree of Life Synagogue: Social media – by Regan Blaha, West Virginia University

Television Feature Reporting
Finalist: Hackathon – lack of diversity – by Bri Clark, West Virginia University

Television In-Depth Reporting
Finalist: Pedestrian crosswalk death – by Caroline Foreback, West Virginia University

Television Sports Reporting
Winner: Title IX and its evolution at WVU – by Julia Mellett, West Virginia University
Finalist: Olympic gold medalist profile – Ginny Thrasher – by Kendall Lewis, West Virginia University
Finalist: Synchronized figure skating – by Ben Murray, West Virginia University

Best All-Around Television Newscast
Winner: Election 2018: A nation divided – by Meg Weissend, West Virginia University

Best All-Around Television News Magazine
Winner: Gun control: A nation divided – Macy Senge, West Virginia University