UA Students Win Championship at Journalism Conference

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Staff members of The Crimson White (CW), The University of Alabama student newspaper, won seven first-place awards and the on-site contest team championship during the 18th annual meeting of the Southeast Journalism Conference in Troy on Feb. 18-21.

In the “Best of the South” competition judged prior to the conference, the CW was named third best newspaper in the Southeast by staff of the Poynter Institute and assistant sports editor Charlie Gasner of Huntsville placed eighth in the College Journalist of the Year category. UA students took home 16 awards from the conference, the most of any college or university.

CW staff members won first place in five on-site categories and second place in another to take the team championship against 30 other Southeastern universities and colleges attending the conference. First place on-site winners were illustrator Anna Crabtree of Huntsville, reporter Megan Nichols of Sprott and editor Chris Sanders of Smoke Rise in media ethics; Gasner in feature writing; reporter Samantha Hall of Huntsville in radio news reporting; opinions editor Will Nevin of Moundville in current events and reporter Carla Jean Whitley of Tallahassee, Fla., in media history. Metro/state editor Heather Henderson of Daphne took second place in media law.

In the “Best of the South” competition, CW managing editor Lauren Davidson of Madison and former assistant managing editor Alyda Hardy of Columbus, Miss., won first place in best newspaper page layout design and best news graphic design, respectively. Assistant sports editor Alex Merritt of Little Rock, Ark., won second place in sports writing.

Also in the “Best of the South” competition, CW entertainment editor Graham Flanagan of Tuscaloosa won sixth place, best arts/entertainment writer; academic affairs editor Chris Otts of New Orleans won fifth place, best special events reporter; student life editor Nick Beadle of Green Hill won eighth place, best news reporter; Crabtree won eighth place, best news-editorial artist/illustrator; and Cassandra Mickens of Hoover won 10th place, best feature writer.

Fourteen UA students attended the event, hosted by Troy State University. Attendees were Beadle, Crabtree, CW news director Jon Gargis of Tuscumbia, Gasner, Hall, Henderson, Nevin, Nichols, CW copy editor Kristin Record of Marietta, Ga., Sanders, CW page designer Tiffany Schwarz of Huntsville, public relations major Sarah Smitter of San Diego, Calif., assistant entertainment editor Tiffany Summerville of Trussville and Whitley. Paul Isom, UA director of Student Media and editorial adviser of the CW attended as UA’s faculty delegate. The SEJC was co-founded in 1986 by UA journalism professor W. David Sloan and consists of 60 member schools from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.