Class project a finalist in national SPJ contest
A reporting project by an undergraduate class was one of two finalists in online news in the Society for Professional Journalists national Mark of Excellence Awards in June. Winners are selected from top entries submitted by SPJ’s 12 regions.
The project, “Billion Dollar Story: Campaign Finance in Indiana,” was produced by assistant professor Gerry Lanosga’s spring 2016 Investigative Reporting class. Students examined 16 years of state campaign contributions and spending data and uncovered inconsistencies in reporting and regulating campaign finance, as well as the effects of corporate and organizational contributions and campaign spending.
The project was published on the websites of the IU Media School and the Investigative Journalism Education Consortium. It was picked up by news outlets all over Indiana and won first place in online news in the Society for Professional Journalists Region 5 Mark of Excellence.
Students who participated in the project were James Benedict, Leah Carter, Noah Deitchley, Connor Faul, Paige Ferguson, Kendall Gilbert, Anne Halliwell, Madison Hogan, Mary Jamerson, Emily Koval, Xuan Li, Katherine MacDonell, Lindsay Moore, Sarah Panfil, David Pecar, Shakara Williams and David Wood.
Lanosga, who supervised the project, is a former print and broadcast investigative reporter.
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