Troy University held the three-day Southeast Journalism Conference (SEJC) which began on February 23. This year’s topic was Truth and Consequence.
The Southeast Journalism Conference is a learning community of collegiate journalists in various media disciplines who are honing their craft through professional development and the Best of the South Collegiate Journalism Competition.
Over 200 students from 20 schools in the Southeast, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee attended this year’s conference.
The first conference was held in 1987 to encourage greater interest in student journalism and create closer ties among journalism schools in the Southeast United States. The Best of the South Competition compiles the students’ best work from the past year. The Pacer competed in the on-site competitions too.
The competition has two divisions: The Best of the South and the on-site competition. UT Martin students from The Pacer and WUTM returned from the conference with eight awards for Best of the South.
Best Feature Writer – Laura Myhan, 4th place
Best Arts and Entertainment Writer – Will Spencer, 6th
Best Graphic Designer/Data Journalist – Mekenzie Coleman, 3rd
Best Radio News Reporter – Lauryn Davis, 2nd (tie)
Best Radio Journalist – Jared Davidson, 3rd
Best Advertising Staff Member – Alex Martin, 2nd
Best Audio Program – The University of Tennessee at Martin, 2nd (tie)
Best Radio Station – WUTM, 1st
The Pacer entered the on-site competition and won three awards.
Page Design – Trenton Michon, 3rd place
Social Media Marketing (Team) – Mekenzie Coleman, Sarah Cornwell and Marques Rice, 1st
Media Law – Mekenzie Coleman, 3rd
Next year’s conference is set for Jan. 2025 at Mississippi State. For more information about the SEJC, visit sejc.org.
