Philip Merrill College of Journalism | University of Maryland

Maryland Wins 3 National Mark of Excellence Awards

For immediate release, May 23, 2006

COLLEGE PARK, Md.— The University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism received three national Mark of Excellence Awards, and was a finalist in four other categories. The annual contest is sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists.

The awards, which will be presented at SPJ’s national convention in August, are designed to honor the best in student journalism. Maryland’s record of excellence in the online and broadcast categories continues this year, including a first place win for the weekly college-produced radio show Terp Weekly Edition.

This year’s other first place winners are April Chan for online feature reporting on Maryland Newsline, and Mark Butman for radio sports reporting.

“We're quite pleased with the Mark of Excellence results,” said Dean Thomas Kunkel. “The awards are a testament to the high caliber of work our students are doing and the school's commitment to excellence across all media.”

Merrill College students were national finalists in three other categories and the University’s independent student newspaper, The Diamondback, was a finalist for the nation’s best daily newspaper.

The finalists include:

Danielle Hayner, in the radio news reporting category for her report on fake IDs aired on WMUC and Terp Weekly Edition
Pouya Dianat, in the sports photography competition
Mike Santa Rita, Melanie Lo, Ryan Basen and Kim Hart, in the Online In-Depth category for their report entitled “Uncovered: Maryland’s Health Insurance Crisis” on Maryland Newsline
The Diamondback staff, edited by Merrill College senior Megan Watzin, for the best daily newspaper

Maryland Newsline and Terp Weekly Edition are produced by the Merrill College and edited by faculty members Chris Harvey and Sue Kopen Katcef, respectively.

These awards are the second phase of the Mark of Excellence program. Finalists and winners are selected from top finishers in each regional competition. Students from Maryland won 27 MOE Region 2 awards earlier this spring.

Complete results from the competition can be found here.

For more information contact: Matthew C. Sheehan at 301.405.8320.