Newhouse School honored at national collegiate journalism competition

Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications recently won two 2009 Mark of Excellence Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). More than 3,600 entries were submitted in this year’s contest, which recognizes collegiate work published or broadcast in 2009.

“Tough Choices, Tough Times,” a special report exploring how the economy is affecting 18- to 25-year-olds, was the national winner in the online in-depth reporting category. More than 50 students and faculty members worked on the report, which was part of Newhouse’s annual Student Voice project.

MPJ Magazine, a product of Newhouse’s military photojournalism (MPJ) program, was a national finalist in the best student magazine category. Fifteen MPJ students created multimedia content for the project.

Winners and finalists were previously recognized by receiving first place in one of SPJ’s 12 regional competitions. In the competition for region 1, the Newhouse School received four additional honors, including: “Syracuse University Steam Dispute” by Justin Murphy (third place, in-depth reporting); “The Denim Evolution” by Mallory Passuite (second place, online feature reporting); The Fall Workshop, a multimedia project of Newhouse’s Department of Visual & Interactive Communications (third place, online feature reporting); and “Grateful Dead Parking Lot” by Brad Horn (first place, radio feature).

For a complete list of winners and finalists, see http://www.spj.org/news.asp?REF=974#974.