Twenty-Seven from DePauw, Including 23 Student Journalists, Honored by SPJ

May 2, 2012

Twenty-three DePauw student journalists and four alumni of the University have been honored with "Best of the Best in Indiana" awards from the Society of Professional Journalists.  The awards, which are for work which was published, posted or aired in 2011, were presented Friday during the organization’s annual ceremony honoring excellence in journalism.

Staff members of Indiana's oldest college newspaper, The DePauw, collected a total of 11 awards, including seven for first place.  Staffers of student radio station WGRE left with three awards, including two first place citations.

Professional journalists Abby Tonsing '02, Stan Jastrzebski '03 and Lindsay Merwin '10 were also honored by SPJ, as was Angie Hicks '95, co-founder of Angie's List.

Student Categories:

• Spot news, college publication - First Place: The Staff of The DePauw.
• Non-deadline news, college publication - First Place: Dana Ferguson, The DePauw.
• Series, college publication - First Place: Matt Welch, Maritza Mestre and Kaitlin Close, The DePauw.
• Arts/entertainment feature, college publication - Second Place: Dana Ferguson and Rachel Cheeseman, The DePauw.
• Coverage of government/politics, outside Indianapolis market, college publication - First Place: Macy Ayers, Samuel Weigley, Dana Ferguson and Haotian Cheng, The DePauw.
• Sports reporting, college publication - First Place: Michael Applegate, The DePauw; Honorable Mention: Michael Applegate, The DePauw.
• Editorial writing, college publication - First Place: Matthew Cecil, Ellen Funke, Chase Hall and Stephanie Sharlow, The DePauw.
• In-depth reporting, college publication - Second Place: Maritza Mestre and Becca Stanek, The DePauw.
• Design (not cover), college publication - First Place: Margaret Distler, The DePauw.
• Informational graphic, college publication - Third Place: Margaret Distler, The DePauw.

• Feature, any Indiana college radio station - First Place: Ashley Isaac, Taylor Buchannan, Kelly Reeves and Kelsey Dentinger, WGRE.
• Public affairs/documentary, any Indiana college radio station - First Place: Brian Alkire, Anna Olson and Kelsey Christensen, WGRE; Second Place: Ariella Ford, WGRE.

Professional Categories:

• Spot news, daily newspaper (circulation less than 40,000) - First Place: Abby Tonsing, Bloomington Herald-Times.
• Non-deadline reporting, daily newspaper (circulation less than 40,000) - First Place: Abby Tonsing, Bloomington Herald-Times.
• Editorial - Third Place: Angie Hicks, Angie's List Magazine.
• Feature, any Indiana radio station - First Place: Stan Jastrzebski, Indiana Public Media.
• Documentary or special, outside Indianapolis TV markets: Second Place: Lindsay Merwin (and Ryan Sullivan), WTVW-TV.
• Coverage of children's issues, any Indiana television station - Third Place: Stan Jastrzebski (and Noel Brennan)i, Indiana Public Media.
• Social justice reporting, any Indiana television station - First Place: Stan Jastrzebski (with Shameka Neely and Bill Shaw, Indiana Public Media.
• TV news video, general - First Place: Stan Jastrzebski (and Alex Roy), Indiana Public Media.

Access a complete listing of award recipients here.

Recognizing and promoting journalistic excellence has been a key purpose of the Society of Professional Journalists since it was founded at DePauw University in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, a journalism honor society.

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