UW-Milwaukee Student Journalists Win 10 Major College Media Awards

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student journalists writing for Media Milwaukee have won 10 Wisconsin College Media Association Better Newspaper Contest awards, including four first place honors. They swept the college media investigative reporting category for work created in journalism classes.

The student journalists, who write for the news site produced by the  Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies Department, won awards in multiple categories, including column writing, general news reporting, and photography. Student Stevan Stojanovic won a first-place Freedom of Information award for his efforts to obtain information in redacted campus police records.

The JAMS 320 spring 2015 reporting class won a first-place investigative reporting award for the students’ series of stories on helping find the final missing photos of Wisconsin service members who died in Vietnam. The other two investigative reporting honors were won by teams of students working on stories about sexual assault on campus and the TKE fraternity controversy.

Student Maggie Wuesthoff won a first-place feature writing award for her moving account of a Wisconsin service member who died in Vietnam, as told through the words of the friend who had killed him in a friendly fire incident and spent decades trying to come to terms with it. It was entitled, “Do Him Justice.”

Student journalist Graham Kilmer took both first and second place awards in the general news reporting category for his coverage of the UW budget and TKE fraternity controversy.

“Our talented student journalists are performing meaningful work with a lasting impact on the community,” said senior lecturer Jessica McBride, a co-editor of Media Milwaukee. “They are inspiring to know because they are so dedicated to the craft.”

The student award winners were announced Feb. 26 during an Honors Luncheon at the Madison Marriott West in Middleton. The WCMA was formed by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, a statewide organization representing more than 200 newspapers.

The award winners in full are:

*         Column Writing, Second Place, Andrew McCann

*         Feature Writing, First Place, Maggie Wuesthoff

*         Freedom of Information, First Place, Stevan Stojanovic

*         General Web Excellence, Third Place, Media Milwaukee news staff

*         Photography, Honorable Mention, Sarah DeGeorge

*         Investigative Reporting, First Place, Rachel Maidl, Nicole Beilke, Daniel Zielinski, Maggie Wuesthoff, Mary Jo Contino, Mike Holloway, Shana Wilson, Jonathan Powell, Molly Bryant, Amber Bak, Zach Mathe, Dylan Deprey, Bo Bayerl, Kenan Goyette, Ellen Malone, Amanda Porter, Krista Flentje, Jordyn Noennig, Gabrielle Barriere, Tyler Nelson

*         Investigative Reporting, Second Place, Samantha Tripp, Barry  Keefe

*         Investigative Reporting, Third Place, Madeline Power-Luetscher, Sean Cornell, Ryan Artmann

*         General Reporting, First Place, Graham Kilmer

*         General Reporting, Second Place, Graham Kilmer