JEM Students Earn Accolades from 2021 Southeast Journalism Conference

March 31, 2021 by

Students from the UT School of Journalism and Electronic Media walked away with multiple awards in Southeast Journalism Conference competition. Winners were announced March 26.

Best of the South awards are given for a body of journalistic work completed in the past academic year in competition with 30 SEJC member colleges and universities.

Alumnus Noah Taylor placed fifth in the Best Sports Writer category. Taylor is sports editor for the LaFollette Press in Campbell County, Tennessee.

Alumna Gabriela Szymanowska won three awards: sixth place in Best News Writer, fifth place in Best Press Photographer, and fourth place in Special Events Reporter. Szymanowska is a breaking news/public safety reporter with the Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi.

Jake Yoder, a senior in journalism and electronic media, placed second in Best Arts and Entertainment Reporter. Yoder is city editor with The Daily Beacon, UT’s independent student newspaper.

Mollie Chambers, a sophomore in journalism and electronic media, placed ninth in Best Opinion/Editorial Writer. She is a writer for The Daily Beacon.

SEJC is a primarily academic organization composed of more than 31-member colleges and universities in all states across the Southeast, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. SEJC was created to encourage greater interest in student journalism and to form closer ties among journalism schools in the Southeast United States.

The mission of the School of Journalism and Electronic Media is to make a meaningful contribution to the changes occurring in the converging world of media and to the preparation of students for careers in that world. The school is dedicated to continuously ascertaining and serving the needs of media organizations in the fields of print, broadcasting and Internet communication. Skills such as writing and editing, graphic design and production, and research are given both interdisciplinary and media-specific emphasis.