MSU Journalism Students Win 15 Awards in SPJ Contest

Michigan State University broadcast journalism professors Bob Gould, far left, and Mike Castellucci, far right, pose with several of the students who shined in the SPJ awards competition.

Michigan State University School of Journalism students earned top honors on six categories, and 15 total awards, in the Society of Professional Journalists' Region 4 Mark of Excellence contest.

MSU had more awards than any other college or university in Region 4, which includes Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania.

Entries given "winners" recognition is the equivalent of a first-place award. Two "finalists" are also named in each category.

Deja Green was a winner in the Broadcast Feature Videography for her story titled "Snapchat filters are being brought to life."

Chloe Kiple was a winner in the Broadcast News Videography for "Working with my hands." Kiple was also a finalist in the Broadcast News Videography for "The recycling bins look like trash bins."

Michael Epps was a winner in the Broadcast Sports Videography category for "There's a height difference." Epps was also a finalist in two other categories. In the Broadcast Feature Videography category, he was recognized for "It's every kid's dream." In the Television Breaking News Reporting, he was honored for a story titled "He should have stuck around."

In the Online News Reporting category, Kurt Williams and Andrew Blok were winners for "Algal blooms in the Great Lakes: Investigating efforts to protect and preserve water quality."

Kelly Sheridan was named a winner in the Television Feature Reporting competition for "Between painted walls and power plant smoke stacks."

Rita Ulcinaite and Tierra Riddick were named winners in the Television In-Depth Reporting category for "Climate assessment strikes chord within Michigan farmers."

Three MSU students were finalists on broadcast videography categories. In the Broadcast Feature Videography category, Treasure Roberts was recognized for her story "Mother with dementia". In the Broadcast News Videography category, Christine Kanerva was recognized for "Choice or disease?"

In the Broadcast Sports Videography, Ryan Cole was a finalist for "A senior send-off." Cole was also a finalist in the Television General News Reporting category for "Michigan State's March for Change."

In the Television Feature Reporting competition, Caitlin DeLuca was a finalist for "The culture of gymnastics and MSU."

Tony Black and Griffin Stroin were finalists in the Television In-Depth Reporting for "It's gonna' end up in the courts and I think they will lose."

Category winners will compete at the national level against the winners in contests in SPJ's other 11 regions. National winners are notified in late spring and are recognized at the Excellence in Journalism conference in San Antonio, Texas.