Amy Fickling is Mark of Excellence awards competition coordinator for Region 2 this year.
The collegiate journalism contest recognizes excellence in reporting, commentary/opinion writing and editorials, and editing for college newspapers, magazines and online publications, as well as similar categories for television and radio. News, sports and feature photography are also eligible for awards, along with illustrations.
Coordinated by the staff at SPJ national headquarters, top winners in each category from each of the 12 regional competitions are forwarded to the national round of judging. Regional winners are honored at each region’s Regional Conference in the spring. National winners get recognition at the national EIJ convention in the fall. Region 2 (North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, D.C., Delaware) judges will be judging entries from Region 9 (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming).
The work must have been broadcast or published in 2013. Twenty-four judges and three alternates, all of whom have extensive professional journalism experience, stepped up this year. They will be using an online judging platform during February to make their selections.