Chattanooga Local Danielle Austin Wins Preeminent Student Journalism Award

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SAVANNAH, GA (04/01/2013)(readMedia)-- Notre Dame High School graduate and SCAD writing student Danielle Austin earned honors in the Society of Professional Journalists' 2012 Region 3 Mark of Excellence Awards. Austin won first place in the category "Online Feature Reporting, Medium" along with her SCAD classmate Joseph Jacob and first place for the category "TV Sports Photography" along with her classmate Victor Makali.

Austin's writing skills were cultivated by influential teachers and her participation in local theater productions growing up. "Theater taught me to be observant of my surroundings and that has proven to be helpful not only in my career, but in my everyday life as well," Austin said. "For the winning article I interviewed inmates and I'm not sure I would have been able to have those conversations without the communication techniques theatre taught me."

The Mark of Excellence Awards program honors the best student journalism in the southern United States from colleges and universities in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. SCAD students and alumni placed first, second or third in 16 of 39 categories covering photography, Web, broadcast and print journalism.

Each first-place winner will go on to compete nationally against winners from 11 other regions. SPJ will announce the national winners May 2, and will recognize them at the Excellence in Journalism 2013 conference, Aug. 24-26, in Anaheim, California.

The competition is open to anyone enrolled in a college or university in the U.S. studying for an academic degree in 2012. International SPJ student members may also enter. Students who have had full-time professional journalism experience, beyond internships, are not eligible. Entries must have been published or broadcast during the 2012 calendar year.

SCAD: The University for Creative Careers

The Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution conferring bachelor's and master's degrees at distinctive locations and online to prepare talented students for professional careers. SCAD offers degrees in more than 40 majors. Visit scad.edu.