UW-Milwaukee Students Win Three National Journalism Awards

Two in-depth journalism projects and an audio story produced by students in the Department of Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies won top honors in the National Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards, SPJ announced. The contest is among the most competitive in the country; UWM students joined winners from Northwestern, Harvard, Yale, University of Missouri and Arizona State University.

“We Are Still Here” by Media Milwaukee staff was a national winner the online in-depth reporting category. The team explored the impact of oil extraction and exploitation of native peoples in North Dakota’s Bakken Region. The reporting trip was funded in part by a grant from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation/Journal Foundation Walter Jay and Clara Charlotte Damm Fund. 

“Revamped Milwaukee Marathon Attracts Thousands of Runners” by Nick Kanute was a national winner in the radio sports reporting category. The sound-rich story featured runners competing with varied levels of intensity.

“Disappeared: 10,000 and Counting” by Media Milwaukee staff was named a finalist in the online news reporting category. For this series of multimedia stories, the team covered the lives and challenges of undocumented immigrants in Milwaukee.

UWM student reporters have won dozens of top honors in competitive regional contests for news and feature stories published in 2019. With journalism awards ceremonies and conferences cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, winners are being announced online.

The national SPJ awardees are chosen from winners of regional competitions; UWM students compete against universities in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. In the Regional SPJ Mark of Excellence contest, Media Milwaukee brought home 17 awards, more than any public university in the upper Midwest. 

Other winning projects tackled vaping and the shortage of mental health resources on campus, and allegations of sexual assault against a UWM professor. Compelling audio and video features won in both news and sports categories. The Department of Journalism, Advertising and Media Studies‘ student news site, Media Milwaukee, was named Best Independent Online Student Publication.

Faculty and staff members who oversaw the students’ work are Jane Hampden Daley, Jeff Loomis, Jessica McBride, Michael Mirer and Camila Guarda Velasco.

UWM’s Society of Professional Journalists Regional Mark of Excellence winners:

Best independent online student publication – Media Milwaukee staff – Media Milwaukee

Feature photography – Royce Podeszwa and Nia Wilson – Heart of the Bakken

Feature writing – Ian Bergersen, Adam Kelnhofer and Eduardo Garcia – How two brothers and their mother allegedly built a vaping empire

Online news reporting – Media Milwaukee staff – Disappeared: 10,000 and counting 

Online in-depth reporting – Media Milwaukee staff – We are still here 

Radio feature – Terese Radke – Milwaukee Rep’s rummage sale features fabulous finds

Radio sports reporting – Nick Kanute – Revamped Milwaukee marathon attracts thousands of runners

TV feature reporting – Jodie Filenius – Deer season sees numbers drop in Wisconsin

UWM’s Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence finalists:

Breaking news reporting – Jodie Filenius – Man charged with hate crime, reckless injury, in Milwaukee acid attack 

General news reporting – Kaitlyn Herzog – Professor accused of sexually assaulting a student on campus

In-depth reporting – Jodie Filenius – Lead in the water threatens generations of Milwaukee residents

Online news reporting – Eddie Morales – Homeless encampment leads to housing relocation effort

Online feature reporting – Matthew Cade – Fly fishing is poetry in motion for veterans

Online feature reporting – Media Milwaukee staff – Reclamation on the Ridge

Online in-depth reporting – Media Milwaukee staff – UW-Milwaukee can’t keep up with student mental health crisis

Online/digital news videography – Sierra Trojan – Fractured

Complete list of UWM’s 2019 journalism contest winners:

Milwaukee Press Club

In the competitive Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism contest, UW-Milwaukee won 24 awards, more than any public or private university in the state. The awards dinner was to take place in May with CNN commentator Gloria Borger as featured speaker. The event was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

UWM’s Milwaukee Press Club honorees (1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards will be announced later this year):

Writing: Best News Story – Jodie Filenius – Lead in the Water Threatens Generations of Milwaukee Residents 

Writing: Best News Story – Kylie Zazula – Majority of Students Feel ‘Overwhelming Anxiety’ as UWM Struggles to Help

Writing: Best Investigative Reporting – Kaitlyn Herzog – Professor Accused of Sexual Assault

Visual Journalism: Best Still Photograph/Photos – Elizabeth Sloan– Paradise Lost 

Audio: Best Feature Story – Fabian Caballero – Two Generations Share the Distinctive Sounds of Their Work

Audio: Best Feature Story – Claudia Delgadillo – Drumming for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People

Audio: Best Sports Story – Nick Kanute – Revamped Milwaukee Marathon Attracts Thousands of Runners

Video: Best News Story Single or Ongoing – Sierra Trojan – Fractured: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Video: Best Feature Story – Jodie Filenius – Deer Season Sees Numbers Drop in Wisconsin

Video: Best Program, Documentary or Special – Nia Wilson – Juneau

Online: Best Use of Multi-Media- Media Milwaukee staff – We Are Still Here

Online: Best Use of Multi-Media – Media Milwaukee staff – Nearly One-Third of UW-Milwaukee Students Vape. Are They in Danger?

Online: Best Blog – Media Milwaukee staff – Pipeline of Tears

Online: Best News Story – Jodie Filenius (UWM Post) – Man charged with hate crime, reckless injury, in Milwaukee acid attack

Online: Best News Story – Brianna Schubert (UWM Post) – Students Concerned About Safety After Three Assaults

Online: Best Soft Feature Story- Matthew Cade – Fly Fishing is Poetry in Motion for Veterans

Online: Best Soft Feature Story – Jena Kleindl (UWM Post) – UWM Farmers Market Serves Students

Online: Best Soft Feature Story – Brianna Schubert (UWM Post) – The Nerd returns to the Milwaukee Repertory Theater

Online: Best Sports Story – Eddie Morales – Milwaukee MMA gym plans move for growth

Online: Best Investigative Reporting – Media Milwaukee staff  – Disappeared: 10,000 and Counting

Online: Best Editorial or Commentary – Zoe Smith Munson – Another Earth Day Provides Another Reminder That Society Is Ignoring the Real Cause of Climate Change

Online: Best Editorial or Commentary – Luis Mauro Queiroz Filho -Amilinda

Wisconsin Newspaper Association

UW-Milwaukee student journalists brought home 12 awards in this statewide excellence in journalism contest, including first-place honors for public affairs reporting, freedom of information, breaking news reporting, feature writing, feature photography, and multimedia reporting.

Media Milwaukee swept the multimedia category with two out-of-state immersion projects (on missing indigenous women and the California wildfires) and the local vaping series. A separate feature story on two brothers accused of building a vaping empire also won a first-place award for feature writing.

WNA winners:

Public Affairs Reporting:

Place Name: First Place
Entry Title: We Are Still Here
Entry Credit: Talis Shelbourne, Rebeca Soto, Sierra Trojan, Royce Podeszwa, Claudia Delgadillo, Derek Grant, Nia Wilson
Judge Comment: Incredible initiative. Outstanding writing and editing. Breathtaking photos and engaging videos. This was amazing work that displayed empathy for its subject, commitment to excellence and the importance of journalism in our society

Freedom of Information:

Place Name: First Place
Entry Title: Professor Accused of Sexually Assaulting a Student on Campus (this story; this story; this story; and this story.)
Entry Credit: Kaitlyn Herzog, Marla Smith, Jodie Filenius
Judge Comment: This story earned top honors because it was important, timely and the result of dogged pursuit. Kudos for knowing what questions to ask and for continuing to ask them despite the apparent stonewalling from the administration. The final products were well-written and beefed up with easy access to some of the documents obtained. Great job all around.

Judge’s Competition Comment on all Freedom of Information award winners: Every single entry in this category warmed my heart. Journalism may be struggling as newspapers nationwide shut down or severely reduce the size of their staffs, but college journalists are ably stepping in to fill some of the void. Thank you for renewing my optimism about the value of journalism and our quest to hold power to account.

Feature Writing:

Place Name: First Place
Entry Title: The Huffhines Brothers
Entry Credit: Ian Bergersen, Adam Kelnofer, Eduardo Garcia
Judge Comment: An exhaustively researched and meticulously detailed look into a seemingly wholesome small-town family who build a vape empire. Extremely well done!

Breaking News Reporting

Place Name: First Place
Entry Title: Professor Accused of Assaulting Student at UWM (also this article and this article)
Entry Credit: Jodie Filenius, Marla Smith, Kaitlyn Herzog

Feature Photography:

Place Name: First Place
Entry Title: Lost in Paradise
Entry Credit: Elizabeth Sloan
Judge Comment: Inanimate objects tell a powerful story in this photo essay on the wreckage left from the California Camp Fire. Excellent choice of vantage points and views make this an extremely-well done and impactful essay. Well done

In-Depth Story:

Place Name: Second Place
Entry Title: Disappeared: 10,000 and Counting
Entry Credit: Andrew Boldt, Audryana Bowen, Brittani Cook, Jaylyn Fahey, Brad Hanney, Michelle Harkey, Michael Jung, Tess Klein, Jessica Lopez, Hailey McLaughlin, Amanda Maniscalco, Catie Middleton, ReAnna Oestreich, Madison Sepanik, Talis Shelbourne, Elizabeth Sloan, Rebeca Soto, Darien Yeager
Judge Comment: The breadth of this project is astounding. You really captured every angle of the immigration issue. Well done.

Breaking News Photography:

Place Name: Second Place
Entry Title: Professor Confronted at Courthouse
Entry Credit: Jodie Filenius
Judge Comment: Doesn’t look like any other photographers thought it worth while to snap pictures of the professor. Kudos to this photographer who waited.

Use of Multimedia:

Place Name: First Place
Entry Title: We Are Still Here
Entry Credit: Sierra Trojan, Talis Shelbourne, Rebeca Soto, Nia Wilson, Derek Grant, Royce Podeszwa, Claudia Delgadillo
Judge Comment: Fantastic work on an important subject. Really impressed with the presentation and depth of the work involved, and the visual elements really put it over the top.

Place Name: Second Place
Entry Title: Reclamation on the Ridge
Entry Credit: Dimitris Panagiotopoulos, Hailey McLaughlin, Andrew Boldt, Sal Sendik, Elizabeth Sloan, Madison Sepanik
Judge Comment: You don’t see this kind of work from student journalists often. To send a large group to California to cover the wildfires is a major commitment, but this work did not disappoint. The visuals are fantastic.

Place Name: Third Place
Entry Title: Nearly One-Third of UW-Milwaukee Students Vape. Are They in Danger?
Entry Credit: Media Milwaukee staff
Judge Comment: Excellent work on an important topic that obviously hits close to home for a lot of students and their families.

Editorial Writing:

Place Name: Honorable Mention
Entry Title: Names Should Have Been Released in Police Shooting
Entry Credit: Ali Shana

Website:

Place Name: Third Place
Entry Title: Media Milwaukee (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
Entry Credit: Media Milwaukee Staff

Midwest Broadcast Journalism Association winners:

Audio (use of sound) – Bethany Deyo – UWM Professor Sparks Joy in Faculty Recital

Audio Feature – Terese Radke – Milwaukee Rep’s Rummage Sale Features Fabulous Finds

Team Multimedia Storytelling-News – Media Milwaukee staff – UW-Milwaukee Can’t Keep Up With Student Mental Health Crisis

Team Multimedia Storytelling-News – Media Milwaukee staff – Nearly One-Third of UW-Milwaukee Students Vape. Are They in Danger?