West Virginia University’s student-run newspaper, The Daily Athenaeum was named Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper for the region by the Society of Professional Journalists.

The 2009 Region 4 SPJ Mark of Excellence Award winners were honored April 10 at the SPJ Regional Conference. National winners will be announced in early May.

“It is nice to be acknowledged for something we work tirelessly to put together. I am very proud of everyone and it is great that the writers, editors and everyone involved can be recognized for all their hard work,” said David Ryan, editor-in-chief of The Daily Athenaeum.

Ryan, a second-degree junior of Duck, was also awarded for his achievements in editorial writing.

In addition to the newspaper as a whole, several of the paper’s writers and students at WVU’s Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism were also recognized.

WVU’s 2009 regional SPJ Mark of Excellence Award recipients are:

Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper
• First Place: The Daily Athenaeum

Editorial Writing
• Second Place: David Ryan

General Column Writing
• Second Place: C.G. Shields Column Entries – by Charles Shields

Sports Writing
• Second Place: “Burdette’s milestone didn’t come easy”- by Brian Gawthrop
• Third Place: “WVU rifle champions again” – by Tony Dobies

Online Feature Reporting
• Second Place: “A Mother’s Journey” – by Jon Offredo and Sarah Moore

Best All-Around Television Newscast
• Second Place: WVU News

Television Breaking News Reporting
• First Place: “Overcrowded Jails” – by Karilynn Galiotos

Television Feature
• First Place: “Last WWI Hero” – by Geoff Coyle

Television Sports Reporting
• First Place: “UConn Continues On” – by Ben Eshenbaugh
• Second Place: “Iraq to Gridiron” – by Chip Fontanazza

The complete list of 2009 Region 4 SPJ Mark of Excellence Award winners is available online at http://www.spj.org/news.asp?REF=960#960 .

The Society for Professional Journalists promotes the free flow of information, works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. For more information about SPJ, visit www.spj.org .

To view The Daily Athenaeum online, visit http://www.thedaonline.com .

For more information about WVU’s Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism, visit http://journalism.wvu.edu .

-WVU-

cd/04/12/10

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