The University of Southern Mississippi’s Mass Communication and Journalism Department recently took home multiple awards this Spring from the Southeast Journalism Conference, the Mississippi-Louisiana Associated Press Awards and the O.C. McDavid Journalism Conference.
The Student Printz Newspaper was recognized as the top university newspaper in Mississippi by receiving the General Excellence Award at the Mississippi Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest-Student Division Thursday, March 30 in Jackson.
The staff also won awards at the Southeast Journalism Conference “Best of the South” contest February 16 – 18 at the University of Mississippi in Oxford and at the Mississippi-Louisiana Associated Press Journalism Career Day and College Awards, March 25 in Jackson.
Senior sports editor Julius Kizzee won first and second place awards for sports writing at the Associated Press awards; a first place award for feature writing, along with second and third place awards for sports writing, sports columns and best video at the Mississippi Press Association; and a second place for television news reporting and the ninth ranked sports writer at the Southeast Journalism Conference contest.
“Winning awards are amazing because they show that the work that you have put into your final product is getting recognition. Not only do I credit my own work ethic, but it’s also a credit to the journalism school at Southern Miss,” Kizzee said. “I’m thankful that I got a lot of awards, honestly. It shows a lot of character and hard work when you are recognized for awards. For others, it’s a goals in their lives. But for me, it’s just a reminder that I should keep chasing my own inner successes.”
Printz photographer, Fadi Shahin, won first place feature photo and “Best in Show” at the Associated Press contest. He also won a third place for another feature photo at the Associated Press contest, a first place and third place for feature photos at the Mississippi Press Association and was the fifth ranked college photographer at the Southeast Journalism Conference.
“The awards the Printz received was a great way to finish this year. Not only did our student newspaper excel, but the student media center as a whole at Southern Miss stood out at every competition,” said Cam Bonelli, Student Printz executive editor. “The department’s advisors, faculty and staff played an integral role in achieving this recognition from organizations across the state and the South.”
Bonelli won a first and two second place awards from the Mississippi Press Association contest, a third place award from the Associated Press contest and was ranked the 10th best news writer at the Southeast Journalism Conference.
The university’s WUSM-FM radio station took several awards as well.
Radio Newscast: Brandon Harrison, 3rd.
Radio Sportscast: Danielle Willis, 1st. Cassie Davis, 2nd. Danielle Willis, 3rd.
Feature Story: Kage Laney, 1st.
In television, the university’s Hub City-TV ranked first and third place in Best Multimedia Package.
Feature story: Julius Kizzee, 3rd.
Sports Story: Julius Kizzee, 2nd.
Documentary: Julius Kizzee, 2nd. Brandon Harrison, 3rd.
Video: Julius Kizzee, 2nd.
Hub City-TV also ranked first and third for best online website.
Here is a complete list of Student Printz winners.
2017 Mississippi Press Association, Better Newspaper Contest
Hiba Tahir, 3rd place, General News Story
Julius Kizzee, 2nd and 3rd place, Sports Story
Julius Kizzee, 3rd place, Sports Column
Julius Kizzee, 2nd place, Sports Feature
J.D. Rimann, 2nd place, General Interest Column
Luke Smith, 3rd place, Feature Story
Cam Bonelli, 2nd place, Feature Story
Julius Kizzee, 1st place, Feature Story
Jhaimee Bullock, 3rd place, Editorial Cartoon
Adriana Garcia, 3rd place, General News Photo
Hunt Mercier, 1st place, General News Photo
Sam Mingo, 1st place, Spot News Photo
Hunt Mercier, 2nd place, Sports Photo
Cam Bonelli, 1st place, Sports Photo
Fadi Shahin, 1st and 3rd place, Feature Photo
Adriana Garcia, 2nd place, Feature Photo
Katherine Frye, 3rd place, Miscellaneous Advertisement
Cam Bonelli, 2nd place, In-Depth or Investigative Report
Alyssa Bass, 2nd place, Editorials
Jhaimee Bullock, 2nd place, Newspaper Design
Jhaimee Bullock, 3rd place, Best Front Page
Jhaimee Bullock, 3rd and 2nd place, Graphic
Julius Kizzee, 3rd place, Best Use of Video
Sarah Anne Schloemer, 1st place, Best Website
The Student Printz staff, 1st place, General Excellence
2017 Associated Press Managing Editors Association of La. and Miss.
College Sports Breaking News, 1st place, Julius Kizzee
College Sports Breaking News, 2nd place, Julius Kizzee
College Personal Column, 3rd place, Hiba Tahir
College Spot News Photo, 1st place, Sam Mingo
College Feature Photo, 1st place, Fadi Shahin (Best in Show with $250 scholarship)
College Feature Photo, 3rd place, Fadi Shahin
College Sports Photo, 3rd place, Adriana Garcia
College News Bureau-Features, 3rd place, Cam Bonelli
2017 SEJC – Southeast Journalism Conference, Oxford, Miss.
Best of the South student journalism competition
Best News Writer, Cam Bonelli, Ranked 10
Best Sports Writer, Julius Kizzee, Ranked 9
Best Arts and Entertainment Writer, Jonathan Urbina, Ranked 10
Best Newspaper Page Designer, Jhaimee Bullock, Ranked 5
Best Opinion-Editorial Writer, Hiba Tahir, Ranked 5 (tie)
Best Opinion-Editorial Writer, Alyssa Bass, Ranked 5 (tie)
Best Advertising Staff Member, Katherine Frye, Ranked 2
Best Press Photographer, Fadi Shahin, Ranked 5
Best Radio News Feature Reporter, Joy Netzhammer, Ranked 2
Onsite Competition Winners
Television News Reporting, Julius Kizzee, 2nd place
