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CFAC STUDENTS RISE AS SPJ MARK OF EXCELLENCE FINALISTS

SPJ finalists for

SPJ finalists for “Breaking the Glass Ceiling,”from left to right, Ricardo Quintana, Shelbi Anderson, Jared Jakins and Jeff Wade.

Six Brigham Young University (BYU) students have just been announced as national finalists of The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) 2014 Mark of Excellence Awards.SPJ is one of the oldest organizations representing journalists in the United States. Focused around promoting and defending First Amendment guarantees, it uses the Mark of Excellence Awards to honor the best of collegiate journalism within a calendar year; and this year, three BYU entries placed in the top three nationally in their respective categories:

  • Television Feature Reporting, “Powerful Performer” by Lily Checketts
  • Television In-Depth Reporting, “Underemployment in Utah” by Justin Ashby
  • Online In-Depth Reporting, “Breaking the Class Ceiling” by Shelbi Anderson, Jared Jakins, Ricardo Quintana and Jeff Wade

Winners are chosen from the category winners in each of SPJ’s 12 regions, and journalism professionals with at least three years of experience judge the awards. Two entries are then chosen as finalists, or runners up to the winner in each category.

Anderson, one of BYU’s finalists, acknowledged her BYU education as giving her the skills she needed to compete at such a high level. “Additionally, there were so many supportive faculty members that encouraged me to go forward with the project, even though I was a relatively inexperienced writer. I couldn’t have done it without them believing in my abilities.”

Each of BYU’s finalists is an alum or student of the College of Fine Arts and Communications. Anderson, Checketts and Ashby studied within the School of Communications. Jakins and Quintana claim the Department of Theatre and Media Arts. Wade is from the Department of Design.

The entire list of winners and finalists can be found here.