Jake Fox, Robby General, Casey Smith, Bre Daughterty, Cam Ridle
and Zach Huffman with their SPJ awards
Ball State student journalists won two dozen awards in the annual Society of Professional Journalists state contest, including first-place honors for best website, editorial writing, sports reporting, graphics and continuing television coverage.
The television award went to Cameron Ridle of NewsLink Indiana, who was also named Student Journalist of the Year by SPJ at the annual dinner on Saturday.
Other first-place awards went to Dakota Crawford and Tyson Bird of the Ball State Daily News for sports writing and graphics; to the Daily News staff for editorial writing and to The Ball State Daily for best website. Zach Huffman won first place for radio features reporting.
For the first-place editorial award, judges said the Daily News staff “shows diverse, consistent opinion. The editorials submitted give a clear view of issues that should be important to students. They are the best in this contest because they are clearly, sharply written and well-edited.”
The Daily News earlier won first place in editorial writing in SPJ’s Mark of Excellence regional contest, which includes entries from Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. Crawford also won a first-place for Sports Column Writing in the regional awards. Those first place winners, announced March 30, go on to compete in the SPJ national contest.
Here are the awards won by Ball State student media at the SPJ state contest:
Category: Spot News Reporting
2nd Place:
Christopher Stephens
“Ball State Professor, Wife Suffer Smoke Inhalation After Morning Fire”
Category: Non-Deadline News
2nd Place:
Anthony Lombardi
“Muncie's Methamphetamine Dilemma”
Ball State Daily News
Category: Sports Reporting
1st Place:
Dakota Crawford
“Grown-Man Decision”
Ball State Daily News
2nd Place:
Robby General
“Ball State Pockets $1.2 Million For Texas A&M Game”
Ball State Daily News
3rd Place:
Jake Fox
“Gilbert's Dream Fuels Success Beyond Ball State”
Ball State Daily News
Category: Editorial Writing
1st Place:
Ball State Daily News Staff
Ball State Daily News
Judge’s comments: “The work of the staff of Ball State shows diverse, consistent opinion. The editorials submitted give a clear view of issues that should be important to students. They are the best in this contest because they are clearly, sharply written, and well edited.”
Category: Column Writing
2nd Place:
Daniel Brount
“Do You Copy?”
Ball State Daily News
3rd Place:
Anna Bowman
“Film Analysis”
Ball State Daily News
Category: News Photography
2nd Place:
Breanna Daugherty
“Pence Visits 4th Graders”
Ball State Daily News
Category: Sports Photography
3rd Place:
Breanna Daugherty
“Women's Volleyball”
Ball State Daily News
Category: Features Photography
3rd Place:
Emma Rogers
“Benny The Barber”
Ball State Daily News
Category: Page One Or Cover Design
2nd Place:
Ball State Daily News Staff
Ball State Daily News
Category: Graphics Or Illustration
1st Place:
Tyson Bird
“A World Without Lafollette”
Ball State Daily News
Judge’s comments: “The best graphics instantly communicate more than one fact with visuals that don't just illustrate those facts but put them into context. All the winners here balanced the complexity of presenting so many facts with visual appeal. And they're all local facts on otherwise mundane topics.”
2nd Place:
Stephanie Redding, Dakota Crawford
“What Cost Of Attendance Stipend Could Look Like At Ball State”
Ball State Daily News
Category: Investigative Reporting
2nd Place:
Kara Berg
“Sexual Assault”
Ball State Daily News
Category: Best Journalism Website
1st Place:
Ball State Daily News Staff
“Ball State Daily”
Ball State Daily News
Judge’s comments: “The gap between first and second was narrow, mostly because both regularly cover a lot of ground yet embark on ambitious projects. The third-place winner is equally impressive but gets less credit for not toiling under the daily burden of those who finished ahead.”
3rd Place:
Staff Of Ball Bearings Magazine
“Ball Bearings Magazine”
Ball Bearings Magazine
Category: Best Online Multimedia
2nd Place:
Alan Hovorka
“Muncie Police Department To Receive Body Cameras”
Ball State Daily News
3rd Place:
Miranda Carney
“THE AFTERMATH”
Ball Bearings Magazine
Category: Television Continuing Coverage
1st Place:
Cameron Ridle
“Ball State Award Leads To Controversy, Resignation”
NewsLink Indiana
Judge’s comments: “Thorough coverage of campus issue, including nice followup of administrator's resignation following threat to pull a campus organization's funding.”
Category: Best Design Other Than Cover
3rd Place:
Ball State Daily News Staff
Ball State Daily News
Category: Radio Features Reporting
1st Place:
Zach Huffman
“Fighting The Fire”
Indiana Public Radio
Judge’s comments: “Immersed into the story thanks to the detailed descriptions of the scenes. Great audio to support/reinforce the narrative.”
Category: Feature Story
3rd Place:
Kourtney Cooper
“We Are Coming”
Ball Bearings Magazine
Indiana Student Journalist Of The Year
Cameron Ridle
Ball State University
Judge’s comments: “Cameron has accomplished quite a bit at just 22 years old and simply reading his nomination letter and viewing his clips, it is clear he is very deserving of this honor. I expect cameron to do great things ... Get his autograph now.”
Here are the Daily News winners in the regional SPJ contest from March 30:
Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper
Winner: The Daily Northwestern - by staff, Northwestern University
Finalist: The Ball State Daily News - by The Ball State Daily News, Ball State University
Finalist: Indiana Daily Student - by Staff, Indiana University
Breaking News Reporting (Large) 10,000+ Students
Finalist: Student describes experience on Purdue's campus during shooting - by Emma Kate Fittes, Ball State University
Editorial Writing
Winner: Our View: Daily News Editorials - by The Ball State Daily News Editorial Board, Ball State University’’’
Feature Writing (Large) 10,000+ Students
Finalist: Liquor store Frank - by Christopher Stephens, Ball State University
Sports Column Writing
Winner: Full-Court Press - by Dakota Crawford, Ball State University
Full list of regional Mark of Excellence winners:
http://www.spj.org/news.asp?ref=1322
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