Daily Bruin named best daily student newspaper in regional competition

The Daily Bruin won best all-around daily student newspaper for the second year in a row and five other first-place merits in the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence regional awards, which were announced Saturday morning.

The Bruin took home 13 finalist awards in addition to six first-place finishes. The Daily Bruin took home multiple awards for its coverage of efforts to improve diving conditions for fishermen in Mexico, recovery in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan – also known as Yolanda – and sexual assault on campus.

The Daily Bruin competed with student newspapers from California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii in the regional competition. First-place winners will advance to the Society of Professional Journalists’ national competition, the results of which will be announced in September.

First place:

• Best all-around daily student newspaper (staff)
• Feature photography (Neil Bedi for “Wake of the Storm”)
• Feature writing (Kate Parkinson-Morgan for “Breaking the Silence”)
• In-depth reporting (Katie Shepherd for “Wake of the Storm”)
• Sports column writing (Kevin Bowman for Bo Knows)
• Best use of multimedia (Elizabeth Case, Lexy Atmore, Ryan Hansberry and Connie Chiou for “Coming Up for Air”)

Finalists:

• General news photography (Brandon Choe for “Test of Strength”)
• Photo illustration (Julien Brundrett, Erin Ng and Tim Bradbury for “Breaking the Silence”)
• Editorial writing (Editorial Board)
• Feature writing (Elizabeth Case for “Coming Up for Air”)
• General column writing (Eitan Arom for conflict of interest, academic freedom and culture of litigation)
• Sports writing (Andrew Erickson for “Athletic trainer finds lifelong friend and ‘Coach’ at UCLA”)
• Sports writing (Aubrey Yeo for “Coaches and Companions”)
• Best affiliated web site (Spectrum staff)
• Online feature reporting (Bianca Broszus for “Stories heard around the world”)
• Online sports reporting (staff for “Team Managers” series)
• Best all-around radio newscast (Jonaki Mehta and Chirag Govardhan for Long Story Short)
• Radio sports reporting (Rebecca Rankin for “Coaches’ friendship transcends the playing field”)
• Television in-depth reporting (Eldrin Masangkay and Francesca Manto for “UCLA professor creates nonprofit to help children cope with cancer”)

Compiled by Kristen Taketa, Bruin senior staff.