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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
VALERIE D. WHITE
Chairwoman
Black College Communication Association
Assistant Professor of Journalism
Florida A&M University
(850) 599-3650 (work)
(850) 219-0071 (home)
DATE:
Feb. 4, 2005
The Black College Communication Association today announced the winners of the 2004 HBCU "Excellence in Journalism" Student Newspaper Contest. Honoring the finest work of student-produced newspapers at the historically black colleges, the contest annually serves as a barometer of the progress made by the student news staffs with support from their advisers and faculty.
In addition, this year, a new award was created to honor students and college newspapers that have demonstrated journalistic courage. The award is named in honor of Pearl Stewart, a stalwart advocate of HBCU student journalism, founder of the Black College Wire and the new managing editor of the Chicago Defender.
The Pearl Stewart Freedom Fighter award will encourage student journalists to uphold the First Amendment and strive for excellence in news coverage. This year's inaugural recipient is Daarel Burnette, a student at Hampton University. Burnette was the reporter who wrote the story on the code violations at the university cafeteria. Publication of the story prompted the school administration to confiscate the homecoming edition of the Hampton Script.
That breach of the First Amendment set off a flurry of criticism that brought the actions of the university's president under national scrutiny. A special task force made recommendations that would protect the students' first amendment rights. Since that time, however, the agreement has been violated by the university administration. Burnette received the award for his "exuberance, tenacity and perseverance in the pursuit of free speech."
Although primarily an educational tool, the HBCU newspaper contest also serves as a showcase of top student work in news, feature, sports and editorial writing, page design, photography, graphics and cartooning. Newspaper advisers and staffs study the winning entries for ideas to improve their own publications. In addition, newspaper industry recruiters use the winner's list as they search for job candidates. Many of the award-winning student journalists are searching for summer internships and first jobs.
This year, 15 college newspapers competed. They submitted more than 825 entries in 25 categories. In addition, almost a dozen HBCU newspaper Web sites competed for honors. The awards were announced at the 7th annual HBCU Newspaper Conference and Job Fair, held in Baton Rouge, La., with Southern University as the host. This year's judges included working journalists from the Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, the Associated Press, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Baltimore Sun, and The Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). Trophies and certificates were sponsored by The New York Times.
A complete list of winners will be available online at blackcollegewire.org.
2004 HBCU "EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM" winners
1. BEST STUDENT NEWSPAPER (published twice a week or more often)
First place: The Famuan
Second place: The Hilltop
Third place: The Southern Digest
1b. BEST STUDENT NEWSPAPER (published weekly)
First place: Gramblinite
Second place: The Hornet Tribune
Third place: A&T Register
1c. BEST STUDENT NEWSPAPER (published non-weekly)
First place: Campus Echo
Second place: Xavier Herald
Third place: Courtbouillon
2. BEST NEWS COVERAGE
First place: Campus Echo
Second place: Southern Digest
Third place: The Panther
3. BEST EDITORIAL/OPINION SECTION
First place: The Famuan
Second place: The Hornet Tribune
Third place (tie): The Hilltop The Blue & White Flash
Honorable mention: The Meter
4. BEST LAYOUT Best in tabloid format
First place: The Southern Digest Best in broadsheet format
Honorable mention: The Famuan
5. BEST GRAPHICS and USE OF GRAPHIC ELEMENTS
First place: The Southern Digest
Second place: Spartan Echo
Honorable mention: The Gramblinite
6. BEST SPORTS COVERAGE
First place: A&T Register
Second place: Southern Digest
Third place: The Blue & White Flash
Honorable mention: Spartan Echo
Honorable mention: The Panther
7. BEST FEATURES/A&E SECTION
First place: The Famuan
Second place: The Panther
Third place: The Hilltop
Honorable mention: The Meter
Honorable mention: The Gramblinite
8. BEST PHOTOGRAPHY
First place: Campus Echo
Second place: The Famuan
Third Place: The Gramblinite
9. BEST ONLINE
First place: The Hilltop Online
Second place: The A&T Register
10. BEST SPECIAL SECTION or THEME EDITION
First place: The Hornet Tribune, Election Special Edition
Second place: The Spartan Echo, Security Special Edition
Third place: The Hornet Tribune, Hurricane Season Special Edition
Honorable mention: The Meter, Love and Sex Issue
Honorable mention: The Famuan
11. BEST NEWS STORY
Two or three times weekly
First place: Elizabeth Broadway, The Famuan "Florida Under Siege"
Honorable mention: Rachael Shackelford, Diamond Washington, The Famuan "Alumni Petition for New School Leadership"
Weekly newspaper
First place: Yolanda Davis, Xavier Herald "Xavierite wins Miss Louisiana USA"
Second place: Anterria Brown, The Panther "Students Denied Voting Site on Campus"
Honorable mention: Markuetric Stringfellow, Gramblinite "Enrollment Tops 5,000"
Honorable mention: Chris Faughn, Lincoln Clarion "No Flu Vaccine For This Season at LU"
Non-weekly
First place: Lovemore Masakadza, Campus Echo "Stompin' Out HIV"
Honorable mention: Jennifer Jiggetts, The Spartan Echo "NSU's Enrollment Drops 10 Percent"
Honorable mention: Lovemore Masakadza, Campus Echo "Tenure Process Reveals Kinks"
12. BEST NEWS SERIES
Honorable mention: Coverage of President Hefner The Meter, Tennessee State University
13. BEST INVESTIGATIVE or IN-DEPTH STORY
Honorable mention "Tenure process" multi-part story Lovemore Masakadza, Campus Echo, NCCU
14. BEST EDITORIAL/OPINION/COMMENTARY
First place: Ashley Northington, The Meter "SGA Too Late to 'Save' Hefner"
Second place: Kendrick Marshall, The Blue and White Flash "Possible Diagnosis of Cancer"
Third place: Erika Franklin, The A&T Register "The Caged Bird Sings"
Honorable mention: Brandi Howard, The Bennett Banner "A Laundry Nightmare"
15. BEST FEATURE STORY
First place: A.J. Griffith, The Southern Digest "Back from Iraq"
Second place: Ihuoma Ezeh, The Campus Echo "Single Moms Work Hard"
Third place: Tosha Jones, The Meter "Dare to Wear Natural Hair"
Honorable mention: Kimberly Bell, The Hornet Tribune "The Oldest Living Alumna"
16. BEST SPORTS STORY
First place: Nikki G. Bannister, The Southern Digest "Slain Football Player's Memory Lives On"
Honorable mention: Tamika L. Jefferson, The Meter "Tiger Golf Soars with Black Woman Coach"
17. BEST SPOT NEWS STORY
First place: Lovemore Masakadza, Campus Echo "NCCU Students Give Views on Debate"
Second place: Robin Davis and Joi Gilliam, The Hilltop "Mugging at Shaw/Howard Metro"
Third place: Ruth L. Tisdale and Chad Bishop, The Hilltop "Campus Police Shoot Ex-student at West Towers"
18. BEST INDIVIDUAL PHOTO
First place: Aaron Daye, Campus Echo
Second place: Shevaun Lassiter, A&T Register
Third place: Evan White, The Panther
19. BEST SPORTS PHOTO
First place: Douglas Toussaint, The Southern Digest
20. BEST EDITORIAL CARTOON
First place: Cory Thomas, The Hilltop
Second place: Kalen Davis, The Campus Echo
Third place: Russell Nichols/Robert Stevenson, The Famuan "Rattled"
Honorable mention: Thomas Forrest, The Southern Digest "College Life"
Honorable mention: D. M. Becton, Xavier Herald "Convassayshunz"
21 BEST INDIVIDUAL GRAPHIC DESIGN
(Tie) First place: Michael Grant, The Gramblinite Ryan P. Knight, Southern Digest
Honorable mention: Stacey Flanagan, Spartan Echo
22. BEST FRONT PAGE DESIGN
First place: The Famuan
Second place: The Gramblinite
Third place: Campus Echo
23. BEST SPORTS PAGE DESIGN
First place: The Hornet Tribune
Second place: The Famuan
Best individual page design: Sheena Johnson, Campus Echo
24. BEST FEATURE/A&E PAGE DESIGN
First place newspaper: Campus Echo
Second place newspaper: The Famuan
Best individual page design: Johndel Barret, The Famuan
25. BEST OPINION/EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY PAGE DESIGN
First place: Xavier Herald
Second place: Blue & White Flash
JUDGES:
Johnathon Briggs, metro reporter, Chicago Tribune
Sam Davis, assistant managing editor for recruiting and staff development, The Baltimore Sun
Michelle Deal-Zimmerman, assistant managing editor for design and graphics, The Baltimore Sun
Arthur Hirsch, state reporter, The Baltimore Sun
Sherry Howard, executive online news editor, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Joseph Hutchinson, deputy managing editor/design, The Los Angeles Times
Alva James-Johnson, Caribbean affairs reporter, the Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Ambre Brown Morley, corporate communications, Johnson & Johnson; former health reporter, Bloomberg News
Donna Owens, freelance feature writer (Essence, BET); and former editor, UNISON magazine
Kathy Pellegrino, recruitment editor, the Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Hillery Smith Shay, photographer, Associated Press
Sheila Solomon, senior editor for recruitment, Chicago Tribune
Karla Shores, education reporter; the Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Jean Thompson, Contest Coordinator; editorial consultant, Black College Wire; former associate editorial page editor, The Baltimore Sun
M. Dion Thompson, novelist; former city reporter, The Baltimore Sun
Mitchell Vantrease, metro reporter, Daily News-Sun (Sun City, Az.)
Rufus Young, copy editor, the Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
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