2020-21 National Award Winners

Student Awards Round-Up: 2020-2021

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to students as they learned new ways to work, learn and communicate. But despite these hurdles, they managed to produce award winning work in several national and regional contests. Here is a summary of the recognition students earned from summer 2020 to summer 2021.

 

2021 Effie Collegiate Competition: National Semi-Finalists

Society of Professional Journalists: Regional Mark of Excellence

  • Student Journalists Earn Recognition for Coverage of National Issues

    In 2020-21, student journalists in the Kent State School of Media and Journalism responded to the nation’s turbulent news cycle — a once-in-a-century pandemic, a combative presidential election and nationwide protests in support of racial justice and equality — by digging in and covering these issues on a local level.

    They’re now being recognized for their important work. Kent State has earned 12 honors in the Society of Professional Journalists’ (SPJ) Regional Mark of Excellence Awards. Kent State is part of Region 4, which comprises universities in Michigan, West Virginia, Ohio and Western Pennsylvania.

    Of the 12 awards, Kent State earned two top regional honors. These pieces — both of which cover race relations on campus — will now be judged against top winners in each region across the country:

    • Winner – Online News Reporting – The Rock series by KentWired Staff (, , , )
    • Winner – Online/Digital News Videography – by KentWired Staff

    Included in these recent honors from SPJ, four Kent State Student Media partners earned recognition as finalists for best all-around in their divisions:

    • The Kent Stater – Finalist, Best All-Around Student Newspaper (Large University)
    • – Finalist, Best Student Magazine
    • – Finalist, Best Student Magazine
    • – Finalist, Best Affiliated Website

    In addition, TV2 News was named a finalist for Best All-Around Newscast (single show) for its March 10, 2020 broadcast, the day shifted to remote learning at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Other finalist honors include:

    • Online Feature Reporting: - by Madison MacArthur, '20
    • COVID-19 Newspaper/Online Coverage: - by Connor Steffen, '22
    • General Column Writing: - by Michael Reiner, '20
    • Photo Illustration: Your Voice Ohio illustration - by Cameron Peters, '21
    • Television Feature Reporting: - by Gianna DaPra, '21

    A strength of Kent State’s journalism program is the abundant opportunities for students to cover what’s happening in the world in real time, School of Media and Journalism Director Emily Metzgar, Ph.D., said.

     “This year, we saw our student journalists rise to the occasion and cover complex issues — all while continuing to adjust to remote work and learning,” Metzgar said. “I’m pleased to see their work on issues of health, race, politics and more recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists.”

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2021 Bateman Case Study Competition: Honorable Mention

  • Students Earn Honorable Mention in National PR Case Study Competition

    For the eighth time in nine years, a team of Kent State students has earned national recognition in the Public Relations Student Society of America's Bateman Case Study Competition.  The team, "Bateman Blue" — public relations majors Zach Zdanowicz, Camryn Stephens, Ben Vrobel, Hannah Mayer, Kayla Polansky and Ashley Blood — earned an honorable mention.

    The competition challenged students across the country to research, plan, implement and evaluate a public relations campaign to raise awareness about the importance of civility. The team chose to target Kent State students involved with Student Media as well as freshmen in the College of Communication and Information (CCI), with a campaign that included podcasts, a virtual event and a socially distanced "grab-and-go" information table in CCI Commons, the living learning community in Olson Hall for CCI students. 

    Bateman adviser Stefanie Moore, professor in the School of Media and Journalism, said she is proud her students; only 11 out of 54 teams that entered the competition earned honors. 

    "I'm thrilled to see Bateman Blue's campaign recognized," Moore said. "Implementing a mostly all-virtual campaign during a pandemic was challenging, but their hard work paid off.  I'm so proud of all the 2021 Bateman students and am in awe of how much work they put into the entire campaign process."   

    Alumna Hanna Moore, '17, marketing coordinator at Cohen & Company, advised the team.

    Read more about the Bateman Blue team's campaign  below.

     

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2021 Reynolds Journalism Institute Student Innovation Contest: Top 10

2021 Hearst Journalism Awards: Individual Top 20

2020 PRSSA National Awards: Teahan Professional Adviser Award, Gold Key Award

  • Kent State Public Relations Student Organization and Alumni Win National Awards

    Kent State’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA Kent) Chapter, along with two School of Media and Journalism (MDJ) alumnae, earned national recognition at the 2020 PRSSA Annual International Conference. Public relations alumna Jill Golden, won the highest individual award, the National Gold Key award, and alumna Carrie Kandes, APR, earned the Teahan Professional Adviser award.

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2020 Distinguished Adviser Award (College Media Association): Susan Kirkman Zake

  • Sue Zake Earns National Recognition for Student Media Advising

    Susan Kirkman Zake, an associate professor in the School of Media and Journalism at , was selected as the recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Adviser Award, Four-Year Multimedia, from the College Media Association (CMA). 

    Zake serves as the adviser to The Kent Stater, KentWired.com and TV2, the award-winning, student-run news outlets at . Each semester, she works with her students on everything from how to build engagement to lede writing to payroll and personnel management to email newsletter content. At the same time she upholds and encourages their editorial independence. She is a journalist, educator, mentor and manager who helps to support a student newsroom held to professional standards of ethics and practice.

    Director of the School of Media and Journalism, Emily Metzgar, praised Zake's work with student media at saying "Sue's commitment to training young journalists is clear to all of us at MDJ. We're delighted that her unfailing dedication to students and their professional development is now being recognized with this significant national award."

    The awards ceremony will take place virtually during the Associated Collegiate Press / College Media Association convention in October. 

    Zake joined the Kent State faculty in January 2007 following a 20-year career at the Akron Beacon Journal. She was the recipient of three Pulitzer Prize team awards during her professional career.

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WRITTEN BY:
Jargon Staff
POSTED: Wednesday, September 1, 2021 03:10 PM

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