Northwestern State University students from the Department of New Media, Journalism, and Communication Arts were recognized with a finalist award for Television In-Depth Reporting by the Society of Professional Journalists with a 2020 Mark of Excellence (MOE) Award.
The award is for the student newscast “News from Our Rooms: Election Special” that was produced by students in Professor Melody Gilbert’s Advanced Video Journalism class including Hannah Angell, DeAndre Ashley, Nyasha Brown, Nadia Johnson, Zoe Tapp, Keldrick Ward and James Stanfield. You can see the newscast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysQcjEx2Mn4.
SPJ’s Region 12 comprises the best of collegiate journalism from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
According to Dr. Brian Gabrial, interim department chair of New Media, Journalism, and Communication Arts, “As always, we are very proud of our students’ accomplishments.”
Gilbert said she is very pleased about the award that honors her students who produced this virtual newscast during the pandemic.
“Their effort at reporting and producing stories about the presidential election during a pandemic highlights their exceptional skills,” Gilbert said. “I’m very proud of this group of resilient and talented NSU students and I’m pleased that SPJ judges noticed, too.”
MOE Awards entries are judged by professionals with at least three years of journalism experience. Judges were directed to choose entries they felt were among the best in student journalism.
