{"id":67677,"date":"2025-04-15T09:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T13:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jem.utk.edu\/?p=67677"},"modified":"2025-09-03T11:46:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T15:46:08","slug":"ut-student-journalists-win-regional-spj-mark-of-excellence-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/jem\/2025\/04\/15\/ut-student-journalists-win-regional-spj-mark-of-excellence-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"UT Student Journalists win regional SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Student journalists at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, won several first-place and finalist awards at the annual Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Region 12 Conference last month.<\/p>\n

Award-winning work included stories covering Hurricane Helene and the 2024 presidential election campaign.<\/p>\n

Senior journalism and media major and The Daily Beacon <\/em>Editor-in-Chief Shelby Wright said she is proud of her work on Hurricane Helene, which won in the general news reporting category. She sees the award as another opportunity to spread awareness about the impact of this tragedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it shows how important journalism is at the end of the day,\u201d Wright said. \u201cIt\u2019s about giving a voice to the voiceless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pierce Gentry, senior journalism and media major and WUOT reporter, was also pleased to see his reporting on Helene won.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really gratifying to receive acknowledgement from industry professionals on our work on Helene,\u201d Gentry said. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like they\u2019re acknowledging the disaster and the people that have been hurt by this tragedy. That was the aim of my work on Helene. To shine a light on the needs of those East Tennessee communities that often don\u2019t get talked about.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was also proud to celebrate the accomplishments of his fellow student journalists. Gentry said it is a testament to the students and mentors\u2019 hard work that has transformed the journalism program in recent years.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards winners and finalists from UT are:<\/p>\n

Pierce Gentry (WUOT)<\/em><\/p>\n

Shelby Wright (The Daily Beacon)<\/em><\/p>\n


<\/em>Winner, General News Reporting (Large \u2013 9,000+ students) <\/strong>\u2013 <\/em>How Hurricane Helene\u2019s historic destruction has affected communities and students in our own backyard<\/em>
<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Kylia Berry (The Volunteer Channel)<\/em><\/p>\n

Finalist, Television Feature Reporting<\/strong> \u2013 Lucky Seven<\/em>
<\/em>
<\/em><\/a>The Volunteer Channel<\/em><\/p>\n

Finalist, Best All-Around Television Newscast<\/strong> \u2013 Voting Matters: Covering the issues that matter to you<\/em>
<\/em>
<\/em><\/a>SPJ Region 12 Mark of Excellence award winners are forwarded to the SPJ Mark of Excellence national competition, which will be judged and announced later on in the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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