NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Thirty-four Baptist colleges and universities have entered the 2001 Baptist Press Excellence in Journalism competition, a contest designed to recognize the best Baptist student newspapers, yearbooks and television broadcasts in the nation.
The inaugural Excellence in Journalism awards will be announced at a Sept. 29 awards banquet during the Baptist Press National Student Journalism Conference, according to contest coordinator Joni Hannigan.
Medallions and certificates will be presented to all winners. The President’s Award for Student Journalism also will be presented at the conference. Students were nominated by their schools and the winner will be selected by a panel of judges.
The award will be presented by the president of the Southern Baptist Convention at the journalism conference.
“This is an outstanding representation for our first year of the competition,” said Will Hall, vice president for news services of the Southern Baptist Convention. “The caliber of competition is strong and we’ve already received some excellent entries.”
The competition has been met with positive reaction on the nation’s Baptist college campuses.
“I think it’s something that we’ve needed for quite some time,” said communication professor Sheridan Barker of Carson-Newman College. “We have a number of colleges that have excellent student newspapers and yearbooks and now we have a place to recognize that work.”
The competition will be judged by professional journalists at some of the nation’s top newspapers including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Commercial Appeal.
Colleges and universities entered in the competition include Carson-Newman, Union, Belmont, North Greenville, Dallas Baptist, Houston Baptist, East Texas Baptist, Baylor, Liberty, Lee, Charleston Southern, Samford, Mississippi College, William Carey, Bluefield, Blue Mountain, Brewton-Parker, California Baptist, Campbellsville, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Cumberland, Georgetown, Palm Beach Atlantic, Louisiana College, Mercer, Missouri Baptist, Oklahoma Baptist, Ouachita Baptist, Williams Baptist, Southwest Baptist, Shorter College, Wayland Baptist, William Jewell, and Wingate.
For information on the competition or attending the journalism conference, call (615) 782-8615.
–30–
