DePaul student journalists were selected as finalists Tuesday in three categories for the 39th annual
Peter Lisagor Awards presented by the Chicago Headline Club.
DePaulia reporters Rachel Hinton and Shelley Mesch are finalists for best feature story or series in the non-daily newspaper category for
"‘I was Raped’: A DePaul Student’s Rape and the University’s Code of Conduct."
Students in Journalism Professor
Jason Martin’s Covering the Paris Climate Change Conference class are finalists for best independent blog and best online startup for their work on The Chicago COP21 Report class project during the December Intersession.
Rachel Hinton, Alex Levin, Brenden Moore and Megan Deppen produced final projects that served as the nominated entries in the best blog category.
The class combined the multimedia reporting work of journalism students with mapping skills from four students in the Sustainable Urban Development MA program. Students also created original content and social media analysis using the College of Communication’s iLab.
COP21 Report students produced more than 100 original news posts during the Nov. 30-Dec. 12, 2015, climate change conference in Paris, including real-time coverage of events in France and reporting that focus on environmental issues that affect Chicago. The blog and associated social media channels generated more than 2,300 page views and 53,000 Twitter impressions during its three-week run.
The Lisagor awards honor the best journalism statewide in Illinois in 2015 in print, TV, radio and online news.
DePaul’s students are competing alongside professionals in the awards, which are presented by the nation’s largest chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. No other Illinois publications produced solely by collegiate journalists were nominated as finalists across the dozens of categories.
In addition, Journalism Double Demon Ali Trumbull was nominated along with her colleagues at Crain’s Chicago Business for best use of digital technology for
“Crain’s Coolest Offices”. And alumnus Jeremy Gorner was nominated along with his Chicago Tribune colleagues for their breaking news coverage of “The Killing of Tyshawn Lee.”
Among faculty, Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence co-director Carol Marin was nominated along with Sun-Times colleagues for best daily newspaper deadline reporting. Adjunct instructor Martha Irvine was nominated in five categories for her reporting work for The Associated Press. And adjunct instructor Alex Bordens was nominated twice for best data journalism for his work with the Chicago Tribune.
Winners will be announced at the awards dinner May 6 at the Union League Club.