Winthrop University, The Herald honor 3 students in annual journalism competition
Winthrop University’s ties run deep in the Rock Hill region. And that’s especially true in The Herald’s newsroom.
The pipeline that carries talented editors, reporters and photographers from Winthrop University into our newsroom has been active for decades. If you look in our newroom, or that of The Charlotte Observer, you won’t get far before you encounter a Winthrop University graduate.
Our business at The Herald is built on providing local news for this region’s readers. And it’s a badge of honor that we can claim home-grown talent -- with emphasis on talent and requisite skills -- as members of our staff.
That’s also why it was a special privilege earlier this month to award gifts from The Herald to students who won Winthrop University’s journalism competition. The winners are selected by the school’s Department of Mass Communication.
The school’s awards are named in honor of Terry Plumb and Virginia Wilcox. Both are distinguished former leaders at The Herald. Terry Plumb was gracious enough to spend the better part of a day almost seven years ago showing me around the region after I became executive editor.
And now, here are this year’s winners.
The Herald Terry Plumb Journalism Awards
General News: 144 graves of enslaved Africans found on a Winthrop alumnus’ newly purchased property: Samantha Hyatt
Feature: Roddey Hall to lose its kitchens, and students will be assigned roommates despite having signed up for private rooms Ainsley McCarthy
Photography/video: Winthrop honors the ballroom scene: It’s not a dance – It’s a ball! Mari Pressley
The Virginia Wilcox Design Award:
For her work as a page designer for Arts, Culture & Tech page in The Johnsonian: Mari Pressley.
Mari Pressley also will be a part of a contingent of summer interns this year working at The Charlotte Observer. The Herald’s intern this summer is Kaylen Pritchard of Fort Mill.
Best wishes to a true professional and journalist
In my years at The Herald, I’ve had the honor of working closely with Guy Reel. We’ve worked to get professional-level writing opportunities for students. And he has shepherded countless students from school into newsrooms across the state.
Reel is a former reporter and editor. And now he’s retiring.
I’ve heard countless students call his name over the years. They’ve all said good things about him. And he’s leaving a highly-respected department.
I wish him much success in the future. He gets to have the last word in this spot. This is what he had to say:
“Being at Winthrop has been the best professional experience of my life, including my work as a newspaper reporter and editor. Training the next generation of media professionals is extremely important business, and I know our students at Winthrop are on the right track for professionalism, objectivity and success.”
3 more pats on the back
Early in this column I mentioned the importance of local news. It’s appropriate in this space that I tell you members of The Herald staff are among the best.
Earlier this spring, staff reporters Andrew Dys and John Marks, and photographer Tracy Kimball, all were honored for their stellar work by The South Carolina Press Association.
If you spend much time roaming the streets of this region, don’t be surprised if you encounter any of the three, or even me. The only way to write local news is to know the locale. We work every day to do that.
Congratulations to Andrew, John and Tracy.
