Riley Murdock earned two first-place honors to lead the way as Michigan State University School of Journalism students earned awards in 17 categories in the Michigan Collegiate Press Association's 2018 College Better Newspaper Contest.
The School of Journalism also received many student honors from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, and several faculty were honored for their work in the school and its programs. Read more in these related stories:
College Better Newspaper Contest
Murdock's awards were in the Best Writer and News Story categories, both for Larry Nassar coverage.
Marie Weidmayer and Kara Keating each won a first-place writing awards. Weidmayer took the top prize in Investigative Reporting for her Nassar coverage. Keating won in the Column-Review or Blog-News or Sports category for a piece titled "Laughing at a reporter for doing her job is just wrong."
Other winners include The State News' Daena Faustino, who won two first-place awards, including a Front Page Design award for the cover titled "President Simon, Resign" and for an advertisement. Annie Barker of The State News won both first and second place in the photography category. Barker won her awards in the News-Only Photo category for her work covering the Larry Nassar sentencing, and the Second Amendment March.
Here are all the MSU award winners, which were earned in the Division 2 competition. All winning work appeared in The State News:
Best Photographer
Second: Sylvia Jarrus
Third: Matt Schmucker
Feature Photo
Third: Sylvia Jarrus. "VIM Fashion Show"
Sports Photo
Third: Matt Schmucker, "Michigan State Hockey"
Best Writer
First: Riley Murdock, Larry Nassar coverage
Third: Marie Weidmayer, Larry Nassar coverage
Column-Review or Blog-News or Sports
First: Kara Keating, "Laughing at a reporter for doing her job is just wrong."
Editorial
First: Rachel Fradette, McKenna Ross, Madison O'Connor, Souichi Terada, Sasha Zidar, Jonathan LeBlanc, Maxwell Evans, Marie Weidmayer, Casey Holland. "Editorial: Simon, enablers need to resign, so survivors can move on."
Feature Story
Third: Casey Harrison, "Jail might save their life, but treatment is the answer. The opioid epidemic hits close to home."
Investigative Reporting
First: Marie Weidmayer, "Inside the Houses: The State News investigates sexual misconduct at fraternities."
Third: Riley Murdock, Kaitlyn Kelley, "Scholarship named after ex-MSU President Simon in 2015 wasn't distributed until after her resignation."
Honorable Mention: Peter Atkins, "How East Lansing Police enforce MIP, fake ID laws, and more."
News Story
First: Riley Murdock, "29 victims give emotional statements on first day of Nassar's sentencing."
Sports News / Features
First: Jonathan LeBlanc, "For safety Khari Willis, community involvement is his calling."
Second: Kara Keating, "Frozen Four to hockey hell: A decade-long tale of MSU hockey."
Special Advertising Section, Open Class
Second: Rachel Fradette, McKenna Ross, Souichi Terada, Jonathan LeBlanc, Sasha Zidar, Nic Antaya, Casey Holland, Daena Faustino, Lauren Gewirtz, Mia Wallace, Raquel Mishaan. "Martin Luther King Jr. Issue"
Single Ad, open class
First: Daena Faustino, "Get a Paw Ahead with The State News."
Front Page Design
First: Deana Faustino, "President Simon, Resign."
Second: Lauren Gewirtz, "Trustees, you're done."
News-Only Photo
First: Annie Barker, "Larry Nassar sentencing in Eaton County."
Second: Annie Barker, "Second Amendment March."