Tag: Best of Photojournalism

Tyler Wilkins awarded first Krensavage-Knight Scholarship

Posted on by Dayne Young

Tyler Wilkins, a fourth-year journalism and political science double major, is the first recipient of the Krensavage-Knight scholarship.

The annual scholarship goes to a senior journalism student and is provided by Michael Krensavage (ABJ ’89, MBA ’90) and his wife, Mary Krensavage. The scholarship is named for David Knight who was Michael Krensavage’s beloved journalism and English teacher at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina.

David Knight, Michael Krensavage’s beloved high school teacher fostered his love for journalism.

“I’m grateful to the Krensavage family for their contribution toward my education,” Wilkins said. “Like Michael Krensavage, I also had a teacher in high school inspire me to study journalism and help foster my love for communication and writing.”

Michael Krensavage says Knight’s influence encouraged him to pursue a journalism education at Grady College. He also credits Conrad Fink, a long-time journalism professor at Grady College, for his education and development. In addition to this scholarship, the Krensavage family has donated to the Conrad Fink Scholars Fund.

“We like to help others receive the wonderful education that David Knight and the University of Georgia provided me,” said Mike Krensavage.

Wilkins is from Danielsville, Georgia and expects to graduate in December 2020.

“I hope to produce local journalism in a major city,” said Wilkins. “My dream job would be working as a metro reporter for a major newspaper, like AJC or the Boston Globe, covering city government and the impact of government institutions on communities.”

Michael Krensavage

Wilkins is currently an editorial intern with UGA’s Office of Research Communications where he helps interview faculty members and write stories about the university research. He’s also worked as a reporter for Lake Oconee News and The Red & Black. Wilkins was selected for a summer 2020 internship at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

As part of the scholarship application, Wilkins had to interview a working journalist he admires. He chose Michael Prochaska, editor of the Oconee Enterprise.

“Prochaska gives me hope in small-town journalism, something that is dear to me and vital to any community,” Wilkins said. “He’s a great journalist, who really cares about the community he covers. Through our interview, I learned why it’s so important to connect with people you interview.”

The winner of the Krensavage-Knight scholarship is chosen by grade point average, resume and the written profile of a working journalist.

The Red & Black receives prestigious Pacemaker Award

Posted on by admin

The University of Georgia’s student-run newspaper, The Red & Black, took home a Pacemaker Award at last weekend’s Fall National College Media Convention. The Pacemaker Award recognizes student publications for overall excellence throughout the school year.

The Pacemaker is considered the Associated Collegiate Press’ “preeminent award,” according to Laura Widmer, the ACP’s executive director. There are also categories for online, magazines and yearbooks, in addition to newspapers.

There were 160 applicants from both two- and four-year schools for the 2019 newspaper award, which was then narrowed down to 46 finalists. Being among the 19 winning newspapers  puts The Red & Black in the top 12% of competing publications.

Other winners include Texas A&M’s The Battalion, Syracuse University’s The Daily Orange and UCLA’s Daily Bruin.

“What’s so meaningful about the Pacemaker is that it represents the hard work of the entire Red & Black staff throughout an entire school year,” said Rebecca Burns, the publisher and editorial advisor at The Red & Black. “It reflects the consistent commitment to journalism excellence by everyone at The Red & Black, from contributors still in training to seasoned desk editors who have been involved for years.”

Burns also gave special recognition to Erin Schilling and Maggie Holland (AB ’19), the former editors in chief from fall 2018 and spring 2019, respectively.

The fall 2018 Ampersand Magazine, one of The Red & Black’s special publications, was one of 41 finalists for the Pacemaker Award in the magazine category.

Individual awards were also given at the convention. The categories include reporter, advertisement, cartoon, design, local climate change reporting, multimedia story, photo and story.

Christina Manacotta (AB ’19), former chief photographer for The Red & Black, won first place in the feature photo category for a photo taken an Extra Special People event last spring.

Honorable mentions for the Red & Black include former Staff Cartoonist Nile DeFrietas’ comic strip “Fresh” in the cartoon category, and the spring 2019 edition of the special publication Eat & Drink, Athens, GA, under advertisement.

The Fall National College Media Convention was held from Oct. 31 through Nov. 3 in Washington, D.C. The Red & Black was represented at the convention by former Editors-in-Chief Sofia Gratas and Erin Schilling, both Grady journalism students, and incoming Editor-in-Chief Hunter Riggall.

NPPA ‘Best of Photojournalism’ competition hosts live webcasts of judging

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

‘Best of Photojournalism’ will announce winners of 12 categories during live broadcast March 5 at 6 p.m.

The National Press Photographers Association headquartered at Grady College is hosting live webcasts of its ‘Best of Photojournalism’ judging now through March 4.

The feed can be viewed on the two NPPA YouTube channels: Room 1 and Room 2.  Both feature images of the photos being evaluated and conversations by judges in print, online and picture editing categories which include features, politics, environment, breaking news, portraits and others. A full schedule of the categories being judged and when can be found on the NPPA webcasting webpage.

Sara Bertolini, a Grady College journalism student, assists with the live webcast of the NPPA “Best of Photojournalism” judging. (Photo: Sarah E. Freeman)

A total of 26 judges will work to evaluate the merits of 8,810 entries in still and video categories.

A live broadcast announcing the winners of the still and online competition categories will be broadcast by Grady Newsource on March 5 at 6 p.m. In addition to the winners, the broadcast will feature interviews with several people associated with the competition. The awards announcement can be viewed live through the Grady Newsource Facebook page and on Charter Cable 15.

Nearly 30 volunteers are helping with the judging and include several Grady College photojournalism alumni, Grady students who are taking photojournalism classes and are members of the NPPA student chapter at UGA and four students from collegiate photojournalism programs at Howard University (Washington, D.C.), Syracuse University (New York), Rochester Institute of Technology (New York) and Madison College (Wisconsin). Grady College sponsored the four out-of-state students to travel to Athens, Georgia, as an outreach to other photojournalism program.

“I feel like I am getting a semester’s worth of learning in just a few days,” said Emily Dimond, a photojournalism student form Madison College.

For Danielle Devries, a photojournalism student at Rochester Institute of Technology, accepting the offer to volunteer was an opportunity to get to know the mindset of what professional photographers look for in award-winning work and also to make connections.

“It’s comforting to be in an environment where everyone understands the industry,” Devries added.

While the still images are being judged now, the broadcast video editing and video photojournalism categories will be judged March 16-20.

This is the first year that Grady College has hosted the “Best of Photojournalism” competition. Entries from this year’s competitions and future competitions will be housed at the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Library.

Follow the NPPA Twitter Account, @nppa, #NPPABOP, for category winners.

Best of Photojournalism launches 2019 competition with new home, submission system and sponsor

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

The National Press Photographer Association, headquartered at Grady College, has launched its 2019 Best of Photojournalism Contest (BOP) featuring a new home at the University of Georgia, a new electronic submission system and a new sponsor, Sony Electronics.

The competition is open for entries through Jan. 31, 2019.

The new entry submission and judging system are in place to streamline the entry experience, thanks to BOP’s new host institution at Grady College. The system will also give contest administrators and judges more immediate access to entries after the deadline. The BOP Committee has reviewed all of the categories, updating them to better reflect trends in the industry, providing more opportunities for those in small markets and those new to the profession.

Mark E. Johnson who oversees the photojournalism curriculum at Grady College has worked with William Snyder, chair of the BOP Committee, to ensure a smooth transition with this year’s competition.

“We’ve been working with William and the rest of the NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism Committee for several months on building out this new submission system, one that gives us a lot of information about how entries are coming in,” Johnson said. “The college already had expertise in online submissions systems from the Peabody Awards and their staff has been a great help in getting this platform up and running.”

Each entrant may have up to 20 submissions spread across any combination of categories and divisions – Still Photojournalism, Picture Editing, Online Video, Presentation and Innovation, Video Photojournalism and/or Video Editing.

“BOP’s purpose is to celebrate and elevate the very best visual journalism in the world. These technological improvements to our contest and this sponsor support will make this a really valuable and exciting experience for entrants,” NPPA president Michael P. King said. “I’m ecstatic that Sony has chosen to support NPPA and the stunning journalism our members and entrants create on a daily basis.”

Sony Electronics, manufacturer of the Alpha series of mirrorless cameras, is a Platinum Level sponsor of BOP 2019. With this support, NPPA is offering significant cash and camera prizes to top portfolio winners, and Tiffany crystal awards for winning newsrooms. Sony Alpha cameras will be awarded to the top still photography portfolios as well as the Sony Best of Show-Video winner, and the Best of Show-Stills winner. Cash prizes range from $500 to $1,000.

First round remote judging will take place in February. Final round judging for the Still Photojournalism, Picture Editing and Online Video, Presentation and Innovation disciplines will take place at Grady College between Feb. 28 and March 5. Final round judging for the Video Photojournalism and Video Editing disciplines will take place between March 16 and March 20.

The 2019 NPPA Video Awards will be held in conjunction with the West Coast Workshop in early June in San Diego.

The NPPA offices moved to Grady College in 2015. The move of the BOP Competition to Grady College was announced in January 2018.

“When the NPPA moved to Grady four years ago, our intent was to support their core mission of educating visual journalists,” Johnson continued. “A competition may not seem like an educational program, but what will happen afterwards fits perfectly into what Grady does. Our students will analyze winning entries, talk with the journalists who created them, talk with their editors and reach out to those who were impacted by the stories. They will then produce case studies so other journalists can learn from this work and improve their own journalism efforts.”

One of the benefits of moving the competition to UGA is that all new entries for the contest will be housed at the UGA Special Collections Libraries archives for future reference and educational programs.

More details about entering the 2019 BOP competition can be found on the NPPA website.