BU students win national awards

BU journalists virtually swept the magazine awards in the annual Mark of Excellence competition sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists, with first place, second place and honorable mention. BU students also took first place in the online in-depth reporting category and third place in the newspaper in-depth reporting category.

Graduate student Jeff Lemberg took two of the first place awards, in magazine and online in-depth reporting.

Jeff’s award-winning magazine article, "Golden Boy," was a profile of Dana Rosenblatt, who tells Jewish kids that they don't have to grow up to be doctors or lawyers—they can be professional boxers just like he is. The article was published in Vision magazine. Jeff’s winning on-line article was about the growing incidence of spousal abuse in Asian marriages, and it was written for the professional website Women’s ENews.

Liane Guthro took second place in the magazine contest with "Running for Kayla" (also in Vision), a moving profile of a marathon runner who established a race in the name of her daughter, who died of cancer. Honorable mention went to Anna Scott, for her profile of a first-year teacher in a Boston School, "First year Blues," in Vision.

Marty Toohey, a student in the Washington Journalism Center program, took third place in the newspaper in-depth reporting category for his examination of how video games can spur violence in children. The article ran in the New Britain (Conn.) Herald.

This year’s SPJ competition was especially tough, with entries from Harvard, Princeton, Pennsylvania State, Columbia University, Syracuse and many other colleges and universities.