Spring has been full of honors for Lipscomb journalists and Lumination Network. Honorees from the Lumination staff attended the Southeast Journalism Conference in February and the Society of Professional Journalists Region 12 conference at Lipscomb this past weekend to receive their awards.
The Southeast Journalism Conference (SEJC) held its 25th annual convention in Troy, Ala. on Feb. 19, 2011. The conference was a learning experience for the students as well as a competition. Twenty professional journalists from magazines and newspapers around the country judged entries submitted prior to the conference. The SEJC judges named 126 of the 331 applicants the “Best of the South.”
Three Lumination Network writers were honored at the conference, as well as the overall website being named the seventh best college website amongst the 33 eligible schools in the area.
Lumination’s managing editor Hunter Patterson, a junior journalism major from Waverly, Tenn., was awarded second place in the category of Best Multimedia Journalist.
Rachel Carden, a junior multimedia production and journalism double-major from Smyrna, Tenn., placed ninth in the News Reporter portion of the competition. Carden was extremely pleased with the level of hospitality that Troy University showed the conference attendees, as well as how well manicured the campus was upon their arrival for the event.
The final honoree from Lipscomb was junior multimedia production major Ryan Malone, from Wellington, Fla. Malone snagged fifth place in the College Journalist of the Year category, and is multimedia manager for Lumination Network.
Dr. McCollum, Rachel Carden, Ryan Malone, Hunter Patterson and Whitney Jarreld at Troy University.
As for the most recent event, the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Region 12 conference was held at Lipscomb University. The Lipscomb SPJ chapter and the Middle Tennessee Professional SPJ chapter jointly hosted the conference. Kathryn McKinley, Kate Keith and Whitney Jarreld were awarded Mark of Excellence awards for their individual stories or photography regarding the May flood.
McKinley, a sophomore public communications and leadership major from McMinnville, Tenn., won first place in Television Breaking News Reporting for her “Flooding in Nashville” footage.
Lumination’s editor-in-chief Kate Keith, a senior double-major in public relations and Spanish from Nashville, Tenn., also won first place in Online News Reporting for her “Flooding in Nashville affects campus and students” story.
Sophomore journalism major from Lebanon, Tenn. and Lumination’s photo editor Whitney Jarreld won second place in Breaking News Photography for her “Dairy King during May flood” photo. Jarreld’s photography was highlighted within Hunter Patterson’s “We are Nashville” story about the flooding accross the state.
Lumination was awarded first place overall Best Independent Student Online Publication. Lumination Network staff Kate Keith, Hunter Patterson, Whitney Jarreld and Ryan Malone were the recipients.
Associate professor of communication Jimmy McCollum was thrilled about the awards received by Lumination and all the staff members. McCollum is on the editorial board for Lumination and is looking forward to the online publication’s opportunities to win more awards at the Christian Journalism Conference this fall and at the SEJC and SPJ regional conferences next spring.
The first place winners from the regional conference last week will compete at the SPJ national conference this fall, set to take place in New Orleans.