Journalism students score in national contest

Boston University Journalism students have taken home five prizes, including two First Place awards, in a prestigious national contest sponsored by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

First Place in the Investigations and Analysis Division went to Phil Mattingly for a story about the after-effects experienced by reporters who were embedded during the first years of the Iraq war. The judges praised Phil’s work, which constituted his master’s degree thesis, for the "excellent interviews and quotes (that) give human faces to (the) subject."

First Place in the Consumer Magazine/Features Division went to Jennifer Lunsford for a story headlined “Brain Freeze.” The judges praised Jennifer for a “funny, smart look at the ‘science’ of cryonics.” One judge wrote: “Snappy intro pulled me right in, and breezy, vaguely skeptical tone kept me reading. Full of great lines such as, ‘Why would someone choose to have his head removed and stored in a freezer?’”

The other BU award winners were as follows:

Second Place, Consumer Magazine/People:

“Anorexia: Beyond the Scale” by Mary-Katherine Ream.

Third Place, Consumer Magazine/Places:

“The Sound of Eastie,” by Dan Trudeau.

Honorable Mention, Consumer Magazine/People:

“Raised Up Family,” by Ira Kantor.

The contest, judged by professionals in the magazine field, drew more than 300 entries from schools across the country. AEJMC is the nation’s leading journalism education organization. Its members include about 3,500 journalism and mass communication faculty, administrators, students and media professionals from around the world.