Monday, April 10, 2023
Written by: Office of Strategic Communication

The Daily Iowan won top honors in seven of nine categories—including best student newspaper, best TV newscast, and best website—in a regional journalism competition run by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).

The independent student newspaper also took first place for sports writing, videography, and photography, and was named a finalist in four categories, including in-depth reporting.

Student newspapers from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska took part in the SPJ competition. First-place winners will compete at the national level against top finishers from the other 11 regions.

National winners will be notified in late spring and will be recognized at the SPJ’s convention in Las Vegas, Sept. 28-30.

In 2020, the SPJ named the DI the best daily student newspaper in the country. The paper was named Iowa’s best newspaper in 2020 and 2021 by the Iowa Newspaper Association.

The SPJ awards include:

Print/Online

In-Depth Reporting (Large)

  • Finalist: “Documented dreamers: Navigating an unclear path to citizenship,” by Hannah Pinski, University of Iowa

Sports Writing

  • Winner: “Behind ‘The Bull’: An unfractured look at Iowa men’s wrestler Alex Marinelli,” by Austin Hanson, University of Iowa
  • Finalist: “Iowa Heartlanders growing hockey in Johnson County,” by Isaac Goffin, University of Iowa

Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best All-Around Student Newspaper (Large)

  • Winner: The Daily Iowan, University of Iowa

Best Affiliated Web Site

  • Winner: dailyiowan.com, University of Iowa

Art/Graphics/Multimedia

General News Photography

  • Winner: Roe v. Wade protest, by Grace Smith, University of Iowa

Feature photography

  • Finalist: Rodeo, by Grace Smith, University of Iowa

Sports Photography

  • Winner: Balance beam, by Ayrton Breckenridge, University of Iowa
  • Finalist: Steeplechase, by Jerod Ringwald, University of Iowa

News Videography

  • Winner: “Cy-Hawk Run: ROTC united,” by Daniel McGregor-Huyer and Ayrton Breckenridge, University of Iowa

Broadcast

Best All-Around Television Newscast

  • Winner: DITV, The Daily Iowan, University of Iowa