Grady students complete 2019 Cox-SABEW Fellowships

A group of seven Grady College journalism students were recognized in New York City during the fall conference of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) through a fellowship organized by the college’s James M. Cox Jr. Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership.

The Cox-SABEW Fellows for 2019 were: Jada Bowman, Mikaela Cohen, Kelly Mayes, Skylar Nicholson, Erin Schilling, Amy Scott and Ashlyn Webb. The students were recognized during a luncheon held November 12 at Reuters in New York City.

The Cox-SABEW Fellowship was created to honor students who have taken the initiative to engage in financial journalism and business education through class assignments, student media and professional internships, said Dr. Keith Herndon, director of the Cox Institute. This year’s group marked the seventh year of the partnership with SABEW, which was created in 2013 and has recognized 31 participants.

The Cox-SABEW Fellows visited with Grady alum Polina Marinova (ABJ ’13), who is editor of The Term Sheet at Fortune magazine. (Courtesy: The James M. Cox Jr. Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership)

Amy Scott described the conference as an incredible opportunity to connect with business journalism professionals and learn more about what is going on in the industry. “I’m inspired by just how passionate and committed so many of these journalists are to their work,” she said.

This year’s program was the second year of a two-year readership initiative the Grady College established with Barron’s through a sponsorship by PagnoKarp, a wealth management and advisory firm.  As part of this initiative, the seven students were hosted at a luncheon by Lauren Rublin, Barron’s senior managing editor.

In addition to attending the SABEW conference and Barron’s luncheon, the students also met with business journalists from Fortune magazine, NPR and the Wall Street Journal. The Fortune visit featured meeting with Grady alumnus Polina Marinova (ABJ ’13), who writes The Term Sheet newsletter. The students also had dinner with Grady benefactor Adam Levin and were joined there by alums Taylor Cromwell (2017), a social media editor with The Wall Street Journal, and Lisa Fu (AB ’17), a reporter with Private Equity Real Estate magazine (PERE).

“I really enjoyed learning about business journalism from experts in the field. It showed me how diverse this field can be and how much business relates to all other beats,” said Erin Schilling. “I met business journalists and editors who inspired me to continue on this path and gave me amazing advice about how to be a better journalist.”

The Red & Black receives prestigious Pacemaker Award

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.