Medill students receive Society of Professional Journalists awards

Mark of Excellence awards honor collegiate journalism

The Society of Professional Journalists presents the Mark of Excellence Awards annually. Offering 51 categories in print, radio, television and online publications, the awards honor the best in collegiate journalism. According to SPJ, MOE Awards entries are judged by professionals with at least three years of journalism experience. 

The following students from Medill and Northwestern received awards this year in the Region 5 contest, which includes Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky: 

• Staff of The Daily Northwestern, Breaking News Reporting, Reports of man with gun on campus determined to be hoax, “swatting incident”
• Julia Esparza (BSJ20), General News Reporting, Salvadoran woman finds refuge in Evanston church, attempts to reunite with daughter
• Libby Berry (BSJ19), General News Reporting, Lawmakers in last-minute push to make members of Congress liable for sexual harassment
• Jane Recker (BSJ19) and Marissa Martinez (BSJ21), General Column Writing
• Benjamin Rosenberg (BSJ21), Sports Writing, NU grad earns fellowship with MLB commissioner, hopes to become league’s first female GM
• Editorial Board of The Daily Northwestern, Editorial Writing
• Staff of The Daily Northwestern, Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper
• Elizabeth Guthrie (BSJ20), Non-Fiction Magazine Article, Diagnostic deficit
• Emma Sarappo (BSJ19), Non-Fiction Magazine Article, The Star of Norwegian Knitwear
• Megan Lebowitz (BSJ22), Non-Fiction Magazine Article, Laughing matters: How and why female comedians crack jokes about sexual harassment
• Staff of North by Northwestern, Best Student Magazine
• Staff of BlackBoard Magazine, Best Student Magazine
• Noah Frick-Alofs (SoC20), General News Photography, MLK Commemoration includes new Arts Festival
• Katie Pach (BSJ19), Photo Illustration, Centuries in the making
• Noah Frick-Alofs (SoC20), Sports Photography, Football: Isaiah Bowser’s big day gives Northwestern much-needed offensive spark
• Allie Goulding (BSJ20) and Lauren Duquette (WCAS ‘18), Sports Photography, Captured: Northwestern football at Music City Bowl
• Mia Mamone (BSJ21), Radio Feature, Every Student’s Dream? How Some High School Students Really Feel About Four-Day School Weeks
• Avery Van Etten (BSJ21), Radio News Reporting, Trump Tower lawsuit
• Emanuella Evans (BSJ21), Television General News Reporting, Improve NU Challenge
• Michelle Baik (BSJ19), Television Feature Reporting, Race in the limelight: How Charlottesville is moving forward
• Michelle Baik (BSJ19), Television In-Depth Reporting, Compressor station divides: A series
• Staff of Northwestern News Network, Best All-Around Television Newscast
• Stavros Agorakis (BSJ19), Online News Reporting, Tennessee death row inmates ask for electrocution over lethal injection. It’s a form of protest.
• Darby Hopper (BSJ19) and Ashley Hackett (BSJ19, MSJ19), Online Feature Reporting, Abandoned Citizens: One research team’s fight against the U.S. deportation system
• Davis Rich (BSJ20), Online Sports Reporting, “Look what he was able to do”: The growing legend of Isaiah Bowser
• Staff of The Daily Northwestern, Online/Digital News Videography, A video portrait of election day in Evanston
• Beverly Banks (MSJ19), Dorothy Mills-Gregg (MSJ19), and Brock Hall (SoC18, MSJ19), Online/Digital News Videography, Protests erupt during Kavanaugh confirmation vote
• Poppy Shen (BSJ19, MSJ19) and Hangda Zhang (BSJ18), Online/Digital Feature Videography, Life of Rohingya refugee in Chicago
• Jessica Liu (BSJ21) and Chris Vazquez (BSJ21), Online/Digital Feature Videography, NU alumna protests against Chicago-based poke chain
• Chris Vazquez (BSJ21), Online/Digital Feature Videography, Beyond the Binary: NU transgender students face obstacles navigating the housing process