UW-Milwaukee Student Journalists Take Top Wisconsin Newspaper Association Honors

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student journalists with Media Milwaukee took home 12 awards in a statewide excellence in journalism contest, including first-place honors for public affairs reporting, freedom of information, breaking news reporting, feature writing, feature photography, and multimedia reporting.

Media Milwaukee student journalists swept the multimedia category in the contest with two out-of-state immersion projects (on missing indigenous women and the California wildfires) and a major project on vaping. A separate feature story on two brothers accused of building a vaping empire also won a first-place award for feature writing.

Judges across different categories praised the student journalists’ initiative, their “dogged pursuit” of information, exhaustive research and meticulous detail, the breadth and depth of their reporting, and the visual elements that went with their projects. Kaitlyn Herzog, Marla Smith, and Jodie Filenius won top honors for Freedom of Information for their stories and open records requests exploring the topic of a professor accused of sexually assaulting a student on campus. The work was produced in five different journalism courses at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies Department (JAMS 502, 320, 504, 500, and what is now 602. They were taught by Jessica McBride, Jane Hampden-Daley, and with digital media guidance by Jeff Loomis).

The WNA Foundation released the award winners’ names on May 4. The contest “celebrated Wisconsin’s outstanding student journalists,” according to the press release announcing the winners in its 2019 college and high school Better Newspaper Contests. The Wisconsin Newspaper Association was established in 1853. “Created by and for Wisconsin’s newspapers, WNA exists to strengthen the newspaper industry, enhance public understanding of the role of newspapers, and protect basic freedoms of press, speech and the free flow of information,” its website says.

The We Are Still Here and Reclamation on the Ridge award winners are produced in JAMS 502 immersion class. Special thanks for grant funding for those projects from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation Journal Foundation Walter Jay and Clara Charlotte Damm Fund. “You don’t see this kind of work from student journalists often,” a judge lauded an immersion project.

Here are the award recipients with judges’ comments:

Public Affairs Reporting

Place Name: First Place
Contestant Name: Media Milwaukee
Entry Title: We Are Still Here
Entry Credit: Talis Shelbourne, Rebeca Soto, Sierra Trojan, Royce Podeszwa, Claudia Delgadillo, Derek Grant, Nia Wilson
Judge Comment: Incredible initiative. Outstanding writing and editing. Breathtaking photos and engaging videos. This was amazing work that displayed empathy for its subject, commitment to excellence and the importance of journalism in our society

Freedom of Information

Place Name: First Place
Contestant Name: Media Milwaukee
Entry Title: Professor Accused of Sexually Assaulting a Student on Campus (this story; this story; this story; and this story.)
Entry Credit: Kaitlyn Herzog, Marla Smith, Jodie Filenius
Judge Comment: This story earned top honors because it was important, timely and the result of dogged pursuit. Kudos for knowing what questions to ask and for continuing to ask them despite the apparent stonewalling from the administration. The final products were well-written and beefed up with easy access to some of the documents obtained. Great job all around.

Judge’s Competition Comment on all Freedom of Information award winners: Every single entry in this category warmed my heart. Journalism may be struggling as newspapers nationwide shut down or severely reduce the size of their staffs, but college journalists are ably stepping in to fill some of the void. Thank you for renewing my optimism about the value of journalism and our quest to hold power to account.

Feature Writing

Place Name: First Place
Contestant Name: Media Milwaukee
Entry Title: The Huffhines Brothers
Entry Credit: Ian Bergersen, Adam Kelnofer, Eduardo Garcia
Judge Comment: An exhaustively researched and meticulously detailed look into a seemingly wholesome small-town family who build a vape empire. Extremely well done!

Breaking News Reporting

Place Name: First Place
Contestant Name: Media Milwaukee
Entry Title: Professor Accused of Assaulting Student at UWM (also this article and this article)
Entry Credit: Jodie Filenius, Marla Smith, Kaitlyn Herzog

Feature photography

Place Name: First Place
Contestant Name: Media Milwaukee
Entry Title: Lost in Paradise
Entry Credit: Elizabeth Sloan
Judge Comment: Inanimate objects tell a powerful story in this photo essay on the wreckage left from the California Camp Fire. Excellent choice of vantage points and views make this an extremely-well done and impactful essay. Well done

In Depth Story

Place Name: Second Place
Contestant Name: Media Milwaukee
Entry Title: Disappeared: 10,000 and Counting
Entry Credit: Andrew Boldt, Audryana Bowen, Brittani Cook, Jaylyn Fahey, Brad Hanney, Michelle Harkey, Michael Jung, Tess Klein, Jessica Lopez, Hailey McLaughlin, Amanda Maniscalco, Catie Middleton, ReAnna Oestreich, Madison Sepanik, Talis Shelbourne, Elizabeth Sloan, Rebeca Soto, Darien Yeager
Judge Comment: The breadth of this project is astounding. You really captured every angle of the immigration issue. Well done.

Breaking News Photography

Place Name: Second Place
Contestant Name: Media Milwaukee
Entry Title: Professor Confronted at Courthouse
Entry Credit: Jodie Filenius
Judge Comment: Doesn’t look like any other photographers thought it worth while to snap pictures of the professor. Kudos to this photographer who waited.

Use of Multimedia

Place Name: First Place
Contestant Name: Media Milwaukee
Entry Title: We Are Still Here
Entry Credit: Sierra Trojan, Talis Shelbourne, Rebeca Soto, Nia Wilson, Derek Grant, Royce Podeszwa, Claudia Delgadillo
Judge Comment: Fantastic work on an important subject. Really impressed with the presentation and depth of the work involved, and the visual elements really put it over the top.

Place Name: Second Place
Contestant Name: Media Milwaukee
Entry Title: Reclamation on the Ridge
Entry Credit: Dimitris Panagiotopoulos, Hailey McLaughlin, Andrew Boldt, Sal Sendik, Elizabeth Sloan, Madison Sepanik
Judge Comment: You don’t see this kind of work from student journalists often. To send a large group to California to cover the wildfires is a major commitment, but this work did not disappoint. The visuals are fantastic.

Place Name: Third Place
Contestant Name: Media Milwaukee
Entry Title: Nearly One-Third of UW-Milwaukee Students Vape. Are They in Danger?
Entry Credit: Media Milwaukee staff
Judge Comment: Excellent work on an important topic that obviously hits close to home for a lot of students and their families.

Editorial Writing

Place Name: Honorable Mention
Contestant Name: Media Milwaukee
Entry Title: Names Should Have Been Released in Police Shooting
Entry Credit: Ali Shana

Website

Place Name: Third Place
Contestant Name: Media Milwaukee
Entry Title: Media Milwaukee (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
Entry Credit: Media Milwaukee Staff

“The WNA Foundation is a not-for-profit organization created in 1980. WNAF works to improve the quality and future of Wisconsin’s newspaper enterprises, the industry and the communities they serve,” the press release said.