J-School Student Journalists Bring Home 65 Awards from SPJ, WBA, MPC and More

The UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication has been training the next generation of trailblazing journalists for nearly 120 years and the immense talent of our student journalists seems to only get better with each passing year. This year, 55 students, The Badger Herald, Curb Magazine, The Daily Cardinal, Madison Commons and WSUM were received a total of 65 awards from a variety of professional associations including, The Milwaukee Press Club, the National Center on Disability and Journalism, the Overseas Press Club Foundation, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association. The awards honored the students’ work in a wide variety of categories such as print, photography, video journalism, audio journalism, graphics and multimedia design and more.

Congratulations to all J-School students and student publications for their excellent work! Read on for the full list of winners from each association.

Milwaukee Press Club

This Excellence in Journalism Awards are presented to professional and student journalists for their journalistic work across multiple categories including news and feature writing, visual and audio journalism, and online and multimedia design.

Writing

Best Long Hard Feature Story
Gold: Rachel Hale, Curb Magazine – Buzzer-beater
Silver: Celia Hiorns, The Badger Herald – ‘Addiction is the opposite of connection’: Strong resource networks guide recovery efforts in Wisconsin

Best Long Soft Feature Story
Gold: Maddox Durst, The Badger Herald – ‘Profit off of play’: Evolution of NIL impacts all universities today, including UW
Silver: Caitlyn Halfon, The Daily Cardinal – WSUM 91.7 FM: The radio station that could
Bronze: Emma Conway, Curb Magazine – Harvest the Sun

Best Short Hard Feature Story
Gold: Cat Carroll, The Badger Herald – Open Seat Food Pantry demand reveals food insecurity on campus
Silver: Gavin Escott, The Daily Cardinal – Act 10 took their rights away. They’re fighting to get them back
Bronze: Ava Menkes and Anna Kleiber, The Daily Cardinal – In Wisconsin, campus organizers fueled liberals’ Supreme Court victory

Best Short Soft Feature Story
Silver: Cate Schiller, The Daily Cardinal – Slow Food UW: ‘A place for everyone’
Bronze: Claire Biegalski, Curb Magazine – Sip on Sustainability

Best Sports Story
Gold: Matthew Neschis, The Daily Cardinal – Converting at the charity stripe: Former Badger gives back through basketball
Silver: Justin Alpert, The Daily Cardinal – Maddie Schwartz has done it all for Wisconsin, but now she doesn’t have to
Bronze: Krissy Birdsall, The Badger Herald – Women’s Basketball: What to expect from Moseley’s team in 2023-24 campaign

Best Investigative Reporting
Bronze: Sanjeev Anand, The Daily Cardinal – Damaged wheelchairs, delayed rides: Accessible transit an ongoing challenge at UW-Madison

Best Editorial or Commentary
Gold: Annika Bereny, The Daily Cardinal – Who’s actually being helped by conference realignment?
Silver: Maggie Degnan, Elise Fjelstad, Celia Hiorns and Janani Sundar, The Badger Herald – The Badger Herald Editorial Board: The bounds of free speech
Bronze: Celia Hiorns, The Badger Herald – First Amendment discourses must supersede ideology

Visual Journalism

Best Still Photograph/Photos
Gold: Sara Stanislawski, Curb Magazine – Into the Woods: Connect with the state’s natural landscape through the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku

Best Photo Essays or Series
Gold: Cameron Schneider and Cora Spychalla, The Daily Cardinal – PHOTOS: B-Side Records – A small business with an impactful history
Silver: Drake White-Bergey, The Daily Cardinal – UW-Madison students protest outside chancellor’s office, march on campus as backlash over racist video grows
Bronze: Drake White-Bergey, MK Denton, The Daily Cardinal – Students celebrate Black joy, ‘take up space’ in second rally against UW’s response to racist video

Audio

Best News Story Single or Ongoing
Silver: Gavin Escott, Heewone Lim, Gabriella Hartlaub and Anna Kleiber, The Daily Cardinal – Blk Pwr Coalition Outlines Next Goals for Semester, Conversations With University

Best Original Podcast
Gold: The Daily Cardinal Staff – The Student Dive

Online Exclusively

Best Use of Multi-Media
Bronze: The Daily Cardinal Staff – Cardinal Call

Best Website Design
Gold: The Daily Cardinal Staff – dailycardinal.com

Best Local News or Feature Website
Gold: Madison Commons Staff – madisoncommons.org
Bronze: Emma Conway, Alexis Bakken, Maria Brunetta, Meisi Li, Wanruo Zhao and the Curb Magazine Staff – Curb: Fusion

Best News Story
Bronze: Audrey Thibert, The Badger Herald – UW students drive campus efforts to reform campus mental health response

Best Long Hard Feature Story
Silver: Rachel Hale, The Daily Cardinal – Jewish students found community after the Oct. 7 attacks. But for many, loneliness persists.
Bronze: Jane Houseal, Omar Waheed and Ava Wojnowski, Curb Magazine – Black Gold, Indigenous Water

Best Long Soft Feature Story
Silver: Ava Menkes, The Daily Cardinal – ‘Each one can reach one’: Challenges, hopes for organic farming in Wisconsin

Best Short Hard Feature Story
Gold: Hallie Claflin, Madison Commons – No longer memorializing problematic figures, some Madison schools rename for better symbolism
Silver: Zoe Jaeger, Madison Commons – Pandemic-era changes to the service industry are working for Madison’s restaurants
Bronze: Audrey Thibert, The Badger Herald – Despite progress, MENA students see need for further support on UW campus

Best Short Soft Feature Story
Gold: Xinlin Jiang, UW News – Madison becomes second hometown for international students
Silver: Mike Hall, Madison Commons – A pollinator predicament: How community members are mitigating bumblebee declines in Madison

Best Investigative Reporting
Gold: Rachel Hale, Wisconsin Watch – Moms for Liberty is growing in Wisconsin as critics call them extremists
Silver: Anna Kleiber, Francesca Pica, Ava Menkes and Liam Beran, The Daily Cardinal – UW System considering deal to freeze DEI positions in exchange for buildings, pay raise approval

Best Editorial or Commentary
Silver: Xinlin Jiang, UW News – Student Stories: A rookie’s guide to navigating football frenzy

National Center on Disability and Journalism

The Gary Corcoran Student Prize for Excellence in Reporting on Disability recognizes student journalists covering issues related to disability and is the only national student journalism contest entirely devoted to the coverage of people with disabilities. With this award, the three writers receive both a $1,000 cash prize and a trophy.

Gary Corcoran Student Prize for Excellence in Reporting on Disability
Third Prize: Erin Gretzinger, Christ Klein and Erin McGroarty, Curb Magazine – The Only Way Forward is Together

Overseas Press Club Foundation

The Overseas Press Club Foundation Scholar Award is given to young journalists to gain experience in overseas reporting and will provide funding to allow her to pursue an international reporting project in the coming months.

Overseas Press Club Foundation Scholar Award
Audrey Thibert

Society for Professional Journalists

This SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards recognize excellence in collegiate journalism across several categories including print, art/graphics/multimedia, radio and television broadcast. SPJ’s Region 6 represents Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin and winners in each category will go on to compete at the national level among other winners from SPJ’s 12 regions.

Print/Online

Breaking News Reporting (Large school)
Winner: Tyler Katzenberger, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Starbucks denies ban on Pride decor reported by employees at 2 Madison stores and the national union

General News Reporting (Large school)
Finalist: Rachel Hale, The Daily Cardinal – Jewish students found community after the Oct. 7 attacks. But for many, loneliness persists

In-Depth Reporting
Winner: Sophia Vento, Isthmus – ‘It doesn’t have to stay like this’
Finalist: Audrey Thibert, Pulitzer Center – A shared uncertainty: Migration stories from Tunisia
Finalist: Rachel Hale, Wisconsin Watch – Moms for Liberty is growing in Wisconsin as critics call them extremists

Feature Writing (Large school)
Winner: Rachel Hale, Curb Magazine – Buzzer-beater

Sports Writing:
Finalist: Xinlin (Grace) Jiang, UW-Madison News – A rookie’s guide to navigating football frenzy

Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best All-Around Student Newspaper (Large school)
Winner: The Daily Cardinal

Best Ongoing Student Magazine
Winner: Curb: Fusion

Best Affiliated Website
Winner: Curb: Fusion

Broadcast

Television Breaking News Reporting
Winner: Meryl Hubbard, Channel 3000 – Fatal car crash brings unexpected first responders

All Platforms

Investigative Reporting
Winner: Tyler Katzenberger, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Evers took down a records tracking site and never put it back up

Regional Political Reporting
Winner: Tyler Katzenberger, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Voter education group works to pierce distrust in elections in Wisconsin, one meeting at a time

Wisconsin Broadcasters Association

The WBA Student Awards for Excellence recognize students’ work in broadcasting at the collegiate level for several categories including television, radio, podcasts, and multimedia.

Newscast (Radio)
Second Place: WSUM – Oct. 3 Newscast

Feature Story (Radio)
First Place: Kathryn Reuscher, Anna Aaryo, and Anna McGlynn – Diving into the Female Athlete’s Perspective: The Hidden Voices

Sports Play-by-Play (Radio)
Second Place: WSUM – Cam Johnson Silences Camp Randall, Nov. 11, 2023

Sports Play-by-Play (TV)
Second Place: Anthony Winker, Vincent Hesprich, and Wisconsin Student U – Oct. 3, 2023 Women’s Hockey – Minnesota State at Wisconsin

Public Affairs/Talk Show (Radio)
First Place: WSUM, Heewone Lim – In Konglish
Third Place: WSUM, Lexi Spevacek, Ray Kirsch, Vince Nayman – On Wisconsin: Latinx Heritage Month

PSAs/Commercials (Radio)
Second Place: WSUM – Fire Safety Event

Website
Third Place: WSUM – wsum.org

Social Media
First Place: Taylor Smith and Staff of Curb Magazine – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X
Second Place: WSUM – Instagram