University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at Mānoa journalism students and recent graduates swept the student media portion of the (SPJ) Â鶹´«Ã½ Chapter Excellence in Journalism Awards ceremony on June 26.
Alex Bitter, who was editor of UH Mānoa student newspaper during the 2014-15 academic year and is currently a summer intern at in New York City, took first place in the Student News Reporting in Any Media category. Judges said that his article, in , was “well-sourced, diligent work trying to get the details of the budget from a private university that seems intent to keep the problems private. Important reporting, with clear graphics to help readers through the numbers.”
Finalists in the news category were recent graduates Deborah Manog and Bobby Bergonio for “Mission of Mercy,” an article they co-wrote in Â鶹´«Ã½ Business Magazine about the non-profit organization Aloha Medical Mission. While still UH students, Manog and Bergonio, now both alumni of the UH Mānoa journalism program, traveled to the Philippines with volunteers from the Aloha Medical Mission to report on medical care and surgeries the volunteers performed for the needy. The judges wrote, “Lovely storytelling here, with vivid details about the scene and the scenarios surrounding these surgeries.”
Noelle Fujii, a UH journalism major who is editor of Ka Leo for the 2015-16 academic year, was also a finalist in this category for her story, in Â鶹´«Ã½ Business Magazine.
For the Student Feature Reporting in Any Media category, Bitter won first place for his article, in Â鶹´«Ã½ Business Magazine. The article was about why Â鶹´«Ã½’s pro surfers have a hard time getting endorsements. One of the sources in this article was Daniel Ikaika Ito, editor-in-chief of Honolulu’s and a graduate of the UH Mānoa journalism program. Ito and many UH journalism alumni were at the awards ceremony. Finalists for this category were Fujii for “We may love opihi too much” in Â鶹´«Ã½ Business magazine, and Manog and Bergonio for “Aloha Medical Mission breathes new life into Tuguegarao City,” published on Ka Hui Hoʻolauna TV and website by the journalism program and the College of Social Sciences. No other schools won awards in the Student News Reporting and Student Feature Reporting categories at the SPJ Â鶹´«Ã½ Chapter awards ceremony. All entries were sent to the mainland for independent judging.
—