Students from left to right include Tara Barbe, Larshell Green and Jonathan Rhodes hold their award certificates. Courtesy of The Press Club

Dr. Amber Narro celebrates her win as 2018 Outstanding Journalism Educator. Courtesy of The Press Club

Tara Barbe holds up her certificate from the Southeast Journalism Conference. Courtesy of The Press Club

The Southeast Journalism Conference and Best of the South competition featured university students winning multiple individual awards.

On Friday Feb. 16, Best of the South awards were given out to students who submitted work in different categories. The university received many accolades during the competition. Alumnus Jaylon Morris received 9th Best Television News Feature Reporter, Northshore News received 2nd Best College Video News Program and the Southeastern Channel received 2nd in Best College TV Station. 

Junior communication major Larshell Green received 10th in Best Arts and Entertainment Writer and additionally won first place during the SEJC on-site competition for Feature Writing.

“The on-site competition Friday, that award was the biggest sigh of relief I probably could of ever had,” said Green. “I was ecstatic, I was happy with both of them but I was especially pleased with feature writing. That’s more of my niche now and that’s something I do often and when I graduate full-time.”

Associate Professor of language and communication Dr. Amber Narro was awarded the 2018 Outstanding Journalism Educator Award. Language and communication professor Dr. Joseph Mirando received the first ever Outstanding Journalism Educator of the Year Award.

“I was very honored and it’s an award where you’re kind of nominated by your colleagues,” said Narro. “To be nominated by other journalists and professors of journalism as the Journalism Educator of the year is an honor. It’s a nice thing for them to do for me, and it’s also a nice thing for Southeastern as well. It’s a big thing in this organization.”

Senior communication major Jonathan Rhodes received 1st in Best Sports Writer in the Best of the South competition. Rhodes explained that this achievement has been a confidence builder for him.

“I believe that winning this award will stand out because it is recognizing the work that I have done over the course of a year,” said Rhodes. “Experience is important to have on a resume, but awards really show how hard you work during that time period.”

Another winner from Best of the South included senior communication major Tara Barbe, who received 4th for Best Television Hard News Reporter. She described how she prepared for this competition since the 2017 SEJC.

“I spent a lot of time making sure that my scripts and video footage tell the story I want to portray,” said Barbe. “Mr. and Ms. Settoon also took time to critique my packages to help me improve my techniques.”

Director of Student Publications Dr. Lee E. Lind expressed how Rhodes’ experiences will help him in the future as he approaches graduation.

“Jonathan has developed a skill that he can go into any environment and successfully write good journalistic endeavors of any kind,” said Lind. “It doesn’t have to be limited to just sports, he can write a solid news story. He can write a great a&e feature. He can write a personality profile. Any work that he does in this field or many others will be enriched by his time spent here at Southeastern and his work with The Lion’s Roar.”