Eleven Lipscomb journalism students road-tripped to Harding University in Searcy, Ark. for the 2018 Southeast Journalism Conference, where they won 11 awards for submitted work and on-site competitions.
Editor-in-chief of Lumination Network Erin Franklin won 3rd place in the College Journalist of the Year category, taking home a $250 check. She gave credit to professors Jimmy McCollum and Tim Ghianni and said she was surprised to receive the award.
“This was definitely my favorite journalism conference I’ve been to since I’ve been at Lipscomb,” Franklin said. “There was a great group of students who went, and I’m very proud of all my fellow students who competed.”
The weekend consisted of conference sessions, on-site competitions and the Best of the South awards banquet. Over three dozen universities participated. Lipscomb students brought home one more award than crosstown rival Belmont.
Co-managing editor Anna Rogers and sports editor Russell Vannozzi took first place in their on-site competitions, News and Feature Photography and Sports Writing, respectively.
“It was an honor to come home with a pair of awards,” Vannozzi said. “We have a talented team that has been working hard to get great stories all year.” He also credited Ghianni and McCollum for his successes.
Jade Spilka finished 2nd in TV Anchoring. Charissa Ricker placed 3rd in the on-site competition for Feature Writing.
At the Best of the South Awards, students were judged on work from the previous year in many different categories. Lindsey Nance placed 1st in the TV News Feature Reporter category.
2017 graduate Patrick Carpenter won 2nd for TV News Journalist. Anna Rogers was named 3rd in Special Event Reporting and Russell Vannozzi tied for 3rd in Sports Writing.
Co-managing editor Cole Gray tied for 6th in the News Writing category. LeBron Hill was named the 8th-best Op/Ed Writer.
“I’m very excited for the future,” Franklin said.
Photo by Jimmy McCollum