UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Eight Penn State entries — the most from any school in the region — were named winners in the SPJ Region 1 Mark of Excellence competition and advanced for national level consideration in the annual event coordinated by the Society of Professional Journalists.
The awards honor the best of collegiate journalism from the 2015 calendar year and were judged by professionals with at least three years of journalism experience. Judges were directed to choose only those entries they felt were outstanding work worthy of such an honor.
Along with eight winners, Penn State also produced eight other finalists.
The winners were:
- General News Photo: Stephanie Distasio (“Bras for a cause”)
- Sports Photo: John Baranoski (“Airborne”)
- General News Reporting: A series in the Centre Daily Times about mental health on campus written by students Mario Marroquin, Jennifer Meyers, Meg McLaurin and Marley Paul.
- Online Opinion and Commentary: A column by Megan Fleming titled “Why our dorm security isn’t enough to keep students safe.”
- Best All-Around TV Newscast: “Centre County Report” (Nov. 20, 2015)
- Television Feature Reporting: Jess Arnold, for "Pick a peck of pumpkins."
- Television General News Reporting: Samantha Lantz, for “Sexual assault on campus.”
- Television News and Feature Photography: Scott Cikowski and Tyler Feldman, for “Olczyk means business.”
School divisions for the competition were based on enrollment, which includes both graduate and undergraduate students. Penn State competed in the large school division against other programs with more than 10,000 students.
National winners will be notified later this spring and recognized Sept. 18-20 during Excellence in Journalism 2016 in New Orleans.