UA Students Win Regional Mark of Excellence Awards

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Students from The University of Alabama were winners of six regional Mark of Excellence Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and finalists for an additional nine awards.

“This is an impressive showing for UA students, especially considering they were up against major competition from universities throughout Georgia, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina in this region,” said Mark Mayfield, editorial adviser for The Crimson White, which fielded nine awards in the contest.

“It underscores the excellence of their training in the classroom and in student media here,” Mayfield said. “We’re proud of them.”

“We’re delighted with the work of our students,” said Dr. Wilson Lowrey, journalism department chair. “Winners are coming from many different venues – from the Crimson White, which always cleans up in these competitions, from Dateline Alabama, the department’s online news publication, and through the multimedia work of our master’s students. It’s inspiring.”

A full list of UA winners and finalists can be found below. Winners will also compete in the national Mark of Excellence Awards.

Winners:

Pete Pajor (public relations; Columbus, Ohio), Sports Photography (Large – 10,000+ students)

The Crimson White, Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper

The Crimson White Editorial Board, Editorial Writing

Francie Johnson (public relations; Plano, Texas) and Hannah Widener (journalism, New Boston, New Hampshire), Feature Writing (Large – 10,000+ students)

Dateline Alabama staff, Online Feature Reporting

Zac Al-Khateeb (journalism, Birmingham), Online Sports Reporting

Finalists:

Kevin Pabst (communication studies; Niceville, Florida), Editorial Cartooning

Joseph Bodenbach (journalism; Alton, Illinois), Feature Photography (Large – 10,000+ students)

Jonathan Norris (journalism; Saint Simons Island, Georgia), Sports Photography (Large – 10,000+ students)

Pete Pajor and Sloane Arogeti (marketing/interdisciplinary; Atlanta, Georgia), Photo Illustration (Large – 10,000+ students)

Mary-Catherine Hodges (journalism; Vestavia Hills) and Reed O’Mara (foreign languages and literature; Pike Road), Sports Writing (Large – 10,000+ students)

Holly Jackson (telecommunication and film; Northport), Best Use of Multimedia

Taylor Manning (journalism; Tuscaloosa), Online In-Depth Reporting

Andy McWhorter (English/history; Homewood), Online News Reporting

Joseph Bodenbach, Collin Ciepiela (journalism; Buford, Georgia) and Kirsten Fiscus (journalism, Madison), Online Sports Reporting