The Arizona Daily Wildcat and its staff earned eight awards in the SPJ regional Mark of Excellence competition this year. The awards were announced at the SPJ annual conference in San Francisco on May 1.
Earning first place were Michael Ignatov in sports photography, Lisa Beth Earle in general news photography, and Carly Kennedy and Ian Friedman for breaking news reporting (double bylined story). First-place regional winners automatically contend for the national Mark of Excellence award to be presented in the fall.
Second place awards went to the Daily Wildcat in the best all-around daily newspaper competition; to Bryan Roy for sport column writing; to the news staff for breaking news reporting (yes, the Wildcat took first AND second place); and to Lance Madden for sports writing.
Lisa Beth Earle also earned a third place award in the general news photography competition. With a first and a third in that category, and a first and a second in breaking news, the Wildcat can stand proud in these two journalistically vital areas!
The breaking news entries were for coverage of the arrest of a student who gave birth in the dorms and allegedly stuffed the baby in a bag, and for a story on the theft of 10,000 copies of the Wildcat from our newsstands last fall.
Daily Wildcat Alumni 