University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa students, faculty and alumni showed off the value of its journalism program at the annual Excellence in Journalism awards hosted by the Hawaiʻi Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists on July 30. UH students swept all the awards in their categories, and many faculty members and program alumni also earned professional accolades.
“University of Hawaiʻi students and graduates provide the heart and soul of local journalism,” said UH‘s Journalism Program Director Brett Oppegaard. “These are the people who shine the light of truth in the state, and none of it happens without their talent, dedication and hard work. Many of them are UH graduates, trained in the UH Journalism Program, and I think that speaks well of the impacts of the program, especially within the state.”
In addition, four students with UH ties earned paid summer journalism internships: Summer Steinsrud, UH Mānoa (Hawaiʻi News Now); Keilani Martin, UH Mānoa (KHON2); Alyssa Salcedo, UH Mānoa (Hawaiʻi Public Radio); and Sarah Burchard, Kapiʻolani Community College (Hawaiʻi Magazine).
First-place winners who are UH Mānoa current or former students or faculty members:
- Student Investigative Journalism in Any Media: Margaret Cipriano
- Student Breaking News in Any Media: Victoria Budiono
- Student Feature Journalism in Any Media: Kaiya Laguardia
- Student Sports Journalism in Any Media: Tanner Haworth
- Student Journalism Featuring Video: Hiʻilawe Neves
- Student Journalism Featuring Photography: Mackenzie Olivo
- Student Journalism Featuring Audio: Lowy Shim
- Student Editorial/Opinion Writing: Summer Steinsrud
- Magazines, Business Reporting: Noelle Fujii-Oride
- Magazines, Industry or Trade Reporting: Steve Petranik, Noelle Fujii-Oride, Chavonnie Ramos
- Magazines, Feature Writing/Long Form: Robbie Dingeman
- Newspapers, Spot News Reporting: Melissa Tanji
- Newspapers, General News/Enterprise Reporting: Melissa Tanji
- News Media, Column Writing or Blog/News: Naka Nathaniel
- News Media, Column Writing or Blog/Features or Sports: Eric Stinton
- News Media, Breaking News Reporting: Melissa Tanji
- News Media, Science Reporting: April Estrellon
- News Media, Data Journalism Story or Series: Steve Petranik
- News Media, Sports Reporting: Eric Stinton
- News Media, Editorial Cartoon/Illustration: Naka Nathaniel
- News Media, Informational Graphic: Steve Petranik
- News Media, Special Section: Lynn Kawano, Monet Sadural
- News Media, Investigative Reporting: Noelle Fujii-Oride
- Newsletters/Podcasts, Non News Media, Feature Information: Eric Stinton
- Newsletters/Podcasts, Non News Media, General Information Podcast by Non-Disseminating News Organization: Malika Dudley
- Radio, General News Podcast: Krista Rados
- Television, Spot News Reporting: Jason Sakamoto
- Internet, Best 1-Person Online Features Site/1-Person Features Blog: Stanford Fichtman, Brandon Dela Cruz
See the entire awards list at the Society of Professional Journalists website.
The Journalism Program is housed in the School of Communication and Information in UH Mānoa’s College of Social Sciences.
