For Immediate Release:
Dateline: Indianapolis,
IN
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
CONTACT: Lou Harry, SPJ Manager of Publications and Awards, lharry@hq.spj.org
Kim Tsuyuki, SPJ Communications Specialist, ktsuyuki@hq.spj.org
INDIANAPOLIS – The Society of Professional Journalists is proud to recognize recipients of the 2023 Sigma Delta Chi Awards, honoring outstanding professional journalism produced last year.
Winners were announced tonight during a virtual awards ceremony hosted by SPJ National President Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins. The video is archived on the SPJ YouTube channel.
More than 100 established veteran journalists, who served as SDX Awards judges, selected 71 official winners from over 1,200 entries. Dozens of local and national news organizations from print, TV, radio and online received SDX Awards, including The Marshall Project, Detroit Free Press, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, Deseret News, Wyoming Public Media, NBC News and many more.
Sigma Delta Chi Awards categories include breaking news, documentaries, editorials, photography and more. This year, the investigative, features and podcast categories were expanded.
In addition to the professional SDX Awards, the announcement also celebrated student journalism. SPJ Foundation Vice President Evelyn Hsu announced the winner of the MOEy, the top student award. The MOEy Best in Show award recognizes the best student journalism in the country and is given to the top entry among national Mark of Excellence award winners.
This year’s MOEy award goes to the NYCity News Service team at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at City University of New York for “South Bronx businesses battle back.” The judges said, “This project harnesses the power of hyperlocal journalism. Kudos to the NYCity News Service team for stepping off campus and immersing themselves in the South Bronx community with engaging stories of post-pandemic successes and struggles. The video vignettes profiling local shop and restaurant owners highlight the rich diversity of this corner of New York City. Each piece in the three-part series is strengthened with data, graphics and embedded links that provide further context for the reader. Outstanding teamwork, impactful storytelling.”
The winners of the Corbin Gwaltney Awards for Best All-Around Student Newspapers were also announced by The Chronicle of Higher Education Senior Editor Sarah Brown.
The award is named after Corbin Gwaltney, founder of The Chronicle of Higher Education. He was a media innovator who built the Chronicle to be the most respected publication in higher education. There is one award in the large division (10,000+ students) and one in the small division (1-9,999 students). Each winner receives a $5,000 prize, provided by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
This year, the winner in the small school division is the staff of The Pendulum from Elon University. Judges said, “The Elon Pendulum does an excellent job with a strong local news section that includes government and enterprise efforts.” The winner in the large school division is the staff of Indiana Daily Student from Indiana University. “Indiana Daily Student … reads like a professionally produced community newspaper,” said a judge. “They produce enterprise work that’s relevant to the university and the community.”
Blaize-Hopkins closed the presentation by saying, “As you have seen and heard, there’s a lot of great work being done by journalists. On behalf of the Society of Professional Journalists and the many volunteer judges for the SDX and Mark of Excellence awards programs, congratulations to every one of these winners, as well as so many others whose work made the judge’s decisions so difficult.”
All SDX winners are listed and have their work displayed on the SPJ website. Select SDX winners will be featured in the fall issue of Quill, the magazine of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Sigma Delta Chi was created as a student organization in 1909 and eventually grew to become SPJ, the longest-serving and most broad-journalism organization in the United States. SPJ continues to honor its history by retaining the original Greek letters in the awards presented.
SPJ champions journalists by recognizing outstanding achievement, fighting to protect press freedom, promoting high ethical standards and educating new generations of emerging professionals. Support excellent journalism and fight for your right to know. Become a member and give to the Legal Defense Fund, First Amendment Forever Fund or SPJ Foundation.
The SPJ Foundation is a public foundation dedicated to ensuring that those who carry on the tradition of a free press are prepared for the challenge. The SPJ Foundation supports educational and professional needs of journalists and journalism students. Support excellent journalism and fight for your right to know. Give to the SPJ Foundation.
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