The Fresno State Focus TV show won the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Award for best all-around television newscast for Region 11 with its telecast of the Global News Relay in March. The show now advances to the national competition. CSU Northridge took second place and the USC took third. The winning team, under adviser Faith Sidlow, assistant professor of Mass Communication and Journalism, consisted of Angelica Lei Lani, Xitlaly Ocampo, James Barnes and Rodney Mathews. The awards honor the best of collegiate journalism from a calendar year. Region 11 includes Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada. First-place winners move on to the national competition among category winners from the 12 regions. National winners will be notified in the late spring and will be recognized at Excellence in Journalism 2016 Sept. 18 to 20 in New Orleans. Entries are judged by professionals with at least three years of journalism experience. The awards honor the best in student journalism. For a complete list of winners: www.spj.org/news.asp?REF=1438 (any category not listed has no winner). INFO: Sidlow at 559.278.4868 or Maggie LaMar, communications coordinator, at 317.920.4785 or mlamar@spj.org.
