Three West Virginia University P.I. Reed School of Journalism students are headed to the Society of Professional Journalists National Competition. The students are advancing after receiving first place awards at the SPJ Region 4 Mark of Excellence Award competition earlier this month.

Two of the first place awards were won in the Television News Category –one for General News Reporting and the other for Sports Reporting. The School of Journalism’s student-produced newscast “WVU News” placed second in the region for Best All-Around Television Newscast.

Another journalism student also took home a first place award for Breaking News Photography.

WVU competes in Region 4, along with schools from Michigan, Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. This year, the contest received nearly 4,000 entries across SPJ’s 12 regions. The regional winners were announced at an awards luncheon during the SPJ Spring Conference at the METS Center in Erlanger, Ky., on April 2. National winners will be announced in early May.

Complete List of WVU Winners:

Best All-Around Television Newscast

• Second Place: P.I. Reed School of Journalism’s “WVU News”

Television General News Reporting

• First Place: “Burglary” by Ashton Pellom

Television Feature

• Third Place: “Social Media” by Shannon Teets

Television Sports Reporting

• First Place: “Julian Bailes” by Andrea Sauer

Sports Column Writing

• Second Place: Tony Dobies

Breaking News Photography

• First Place: “Fire causes approximately 2,100 to lose power early Saturday morning” by Chelsi Baker

In addition, Brian Gawthrop, a business management major, received first place in Online Sports Reporting for his piece, “WVU introduces coach in-waiting Holgorsen.”

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CONTACT: Kimberly Brown, School of Journalism
304-293-5726