Gargoyle, Flagler win 17 awards in Society of Professional Journalists regional competition

Flagler College Communication students won 17 awards, including six first places, in the Society of Professional Journalists 2012 Mark of Excellence Awards for Region 3. These states include Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

The Gargoyle, Flagler’s online-only, student-run newspaper won a total of 15 awards, including five first place awards. Two students — Lauren Ely and Adam Hunt — from Associate Professor of communication Helena Sarkio’s Advanced Reporting class won two awards, including a first place for Ely in Online Feature Reporting. Both of those stories were also published in The Gargoyle.

The awards honor the best in student journalism, and judges chose only those entries they felt were outstanding work worthy of such an honor. If the judges determined that none of the entries rose to the level of excellence, no award was given.

School divisions are based on student enrollment, which includes both graduate and undergraduate enrollment: Large schools have more than 10,000 students, medium have 9,999 to 5,001 students, and small have fewer than 5,000 students.

Flagler competed in the small division, except for the television breaking news reporting category, which was open to all schools. In that category, Joshua Santos and Ryan Buffa placed second for a piece on Mitt Romney’s visit to St. Augustine behind the University of Florida’s WUFT-TV and beat the University of Alabama’s ABC affiliate.

“This was pretty extraordinary for a small, online-only newspaper like ours to win so many awards, especially to win in a TV category when we don’t even have a TV station,” said Gargoyle Advisor Brian Thompson. “It really speaks to the extraordinary students in the Communication Department here at Flagler.

The Gargoyle also placed second in Best Independent Online Student Publication for small schools.

First-place winners move on to the national MOE competition among category winners from the 12 SPJ regions. National winners will be notified in the late spring and will be recognized at the Excellence in Journalism 2013 conference in Southern California, August 24-26.

Other winners in the small-school division included Eckerd College, Savannah College of Art and Design and Samford University.

Awards included:

Best Independent Online Student Publication (Small)
Second Place: Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College

General News Reporting (Small)
First Place: “Preacher or protester? Tatter brings religious message to Flagler students” by Ryan Buffa, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College

Feature Writing (Small)
Second Place: “Farm cultivates new life for disabled veterans” by Emily Hoover, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College
Third Place: “Vets find strength in numbers at college” by Tiffanie Reynolds, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College

Feature Photography (Small)
First Place: “Together again: Colombian refugees resettle in Jacksonville” by Sarah Williamson, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College

Television Breaking News Reporting
Second Place: “Mitt Romney Visits Flagler College” by Joshua Santos and Ryan Buffa, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College

Online News Reporting (Small)
First Place: “Muslim student responds to ignorance, reacts with tolerance” by Sarah Williamson, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College
Second Place: “Mitt Romney Visits Flagler College” by Ryan Buffa and Joshua Santos, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College

Online Feature Reporting (Small)
First Place: “A Difference Between Faiths: Politically Irrelevant” by Lauren Ely, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College
Second Place: “Bible study group bridges religion and sexual orientation” by Tiffanie Reynolds, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College
Third Place: “A Look Into the World of Local TV News” by Adam Hunt, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College

Online In-Depth Reporting (Small)
First Place: “Preacher or protester? Tatter brings religious message to Flagler students” by Ryan Buffa, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College
Second Place: “Is your house making you sick?” by Michael Newberger, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College

Online Sports Reporting (Small)
First Place: “Athlete endures religious fast to grow in spirit and discipline” by Eric Albury, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College
Second Place: “Jillian Unitas, granddaughter of NFL great, won’t mind seeing Brees break record” by Jaycob Ammerman, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College
Third Place: “Minor leagues hold dreams for Flagler men’s baseball players” by Eric Albury, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College

Online Opinion & Commentary (Small)
First Place: Phil Grech, Flagler College Gargoyle, Flagler College
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