UWM Student Journalists Win 42 Awards in State, Regional Contests

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UW-Milwaukee journalists won dozens of awards for excellence in investigative, in-depth, multimedia and other stories in contest results announced today. Students snagged 16 awards in the prestigious Society of Professional Journalists regional contest, 23 awards in the Milwaukee Press Club’s 2017 Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism competition, and three from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association. The student news site Media Milwaukee is up for best website in the SPJ and Milwaukee Press Club contests, with students cited in news, feature and photojournalism categories. UW-Milwaukee received more awards from the Milwaukee Press Club than any other school in the state.

Talis Shelbourne, Jennifer Rick and Miela Fetaw are lauded by both SPJ and the Milwaukee Press Club for their investigation into sexual harassment and assault allegations against UWM faculty and staff. Earlier this year, Media Milwaukee also won an open government award from the Freedom of Information Council of Wisconsin for its coverage of sexual harassment complaints and the university’s response.

Other winning projects delved into Milwaukee’s opioid epidemic and UW-Milwaukee’s low African-American graduation rates. Audio feature stories included student profiles and sound-rich portraits of campus life.

Reporting trips to Flint, Michigan to cover the city’s water crisis, and to Texas to chronicle the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, netted honors for in-depth reporting, use of multimedia, and best video news stories. Led by lecturers Jessie Garcia and Jessica McBride, the immersion trips are designed to give students real-world experience covering major crises. The Texas trip was funded in part by a grant from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation/Journal Sentinel Foundation Walter Jay and Clara Charlotte Damm Fund.

The Society of Professional Journalists awards will be handed out April 13 at the Midwest Journalism Conference in Minneapolis. First-place winners will move on to SPJ’s national competition. The Milwaukee Press Club announced winners in both collegiate and professional contests today. Students will find out if they won first, second or third place awards during the club’s annual Gridiron Dinner in May. New York Times investigative reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, who broke the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse story, will be featured speakers. About two dozen UW-Milwaukee students will attend the events.

Earlier this year, UWM journalists received three awards from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association in documentary, news writing and feature categories.

SPJ Honorees

Media Milwaukee will find out which stories won first, second or third place at the April awards luncheon.

Radio News Reporting Personal story on the opioid epidemic. Brandon Anderegg, Matthew Mussa, Nelson Sederstrom.

General News Reporting Stories on segregated fee proposals in the state budget. JAMS 320 news reporters: Amanda Becker, Amanda Maniscalco, Danielle Miller, Dino Dominici, Evan Casey, Emily Gallagher-Schmitz, Rebecca Otis, Samuel Schmitz, Taylor Strickland, William Tewes, Ariel Goronja, Rhea Riley, Rukiya Stewart, Lillian Gonzalez.

In-Depth Reporting Sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations at UWM. Talis Shelbourne, Jennifer Rick and Miela Fetaw. This story was part of the package submitted.

Online News Reporting Homicide story on Patrick Fowler case. Ariel Goronja.

Online Opinion & Commentary Series of columns on the visa lottery program, UW merger plan, and #metoo movement. Ariel Goronja.

Feature Writing Flint water crisis immersion project overview story. Dwayne Lee.

Feature Writing Hurricane Harvey immersion project overview story. Talis Shelbourne.

Column Writing Package of columns. Madeline Matzinger, Kalan Taubner and Naomi Wilson.

General News Photography Hurricane Harvey main photo. Ethan Duran.

Feature Photography Flint, Michigan immersion project photos. Sabrina Johnkins and Ed Makowski. tPhotos submitted include this and this and this and this.

Radio News Reporting Story on black graduation rate at UWM. Nia Wilson, Chardanay Hunt and Talis Shelbourne.

Radio Feature Story on Florentine Opera. Morgan Langley.

Television General News Reporting Jenna Gaidosh, Tisia Muzinga, Stevan Stojanovic and Jenna Graham for stories on the Madison Women’s march.

Best Independent Online Student Publication Media Milwaukee.

Online In-Depth Reporting Finding Flint journalism immersion project. Students: Brandon Anderegg, Amanda Becker, Zari Blackmon, Jack Fennimore, Keio Horton, Sabrina Johnkins, Dwayne Lee, Ed Makowski, Amanda Maniscalco, Rhea Riley, Margie Sponholz, Nyesha Stone, Keaton Walkowski, Amanda Watter, David Watters, Naomi Wilson, Darien Yeager

Online In-Depth Reporting The series on the opioid crisis in the Milwaukee area. Brandon Anderegg, Nicole Frechette, Jenna Gaidosh, Jordan Garcia, Jordan Gasiorowski, Madison Goldbeck, Ean Holtz, Sabrina Johnkins, Dwayne Lee, Christina Luick, Ana Martinez-Ortiz, Matthew Mussa, Nelson Sederstrom, Benjamin Slowey, Margie Sponholz, Amanda Watter, Alyssa Weise