Journey Staff
Former Editor in Chief Reggie Mizell
Florida A&M University School of Journalism & Graphic Communication students took home top awards on July 9 at the 22nd Annual Sunshine State Awards, held at the Firefighters Memorial Building in Miami.
The statewide contest is conducted by the Society of Professional Journalists. Journey Magazine and FAMUAN staff won first through third place awards.
Journey Magazine staff won first-place as Best Student Publication (Low Frequency) for their Art Issue/ Black & White Issue in which judges said, “It grabbed me in and sucked my attention as soon as I saw the covers. It's fascinating, fun, and exciting — great story ideas and magazine themes.”
Journey’s Former Editor in Chief TyLisa Johnson said, “We worked so hard all year and I think so many people only saw a portion of what we did through the glass windows. One of my main goals coming in as Editor was to win awards and live up to the legacy and make the past editors watching me proud, and to actually do it was so unbelievably gratifying.”
The staff worked tirelessly, sometimes into the early morning. TyLisa said as the editor, it was all worth it.
Brion Eason took home a separate award, coming in second place for Best Page Design (Low Frequency) for his work on Journey Magazine’s: Art Issue.
“As a graphic design student, I enjoyed the challenge of being able to bring our vision to life for both issues,” said Eason. “I believe all students should put their best foot forward in anything they do because you never know where your work will take you.”
Both Karlyn Sykes and Geoffrey Evans placed as finalists for the Best Review (Low Frequency) award for their article, Art Algorithms: The Future of Mixed Media Arts.
Former FAMUAN Editor-in-Chief Reggie Mizell placed as a finalist in the award for Best Opinion Column for his article, President Mangum to Launch Official Newspaper.
“When I initially wrote the article, I wasn't thinking about getting an award for it. It was something that I felt strongly about and wanted our voice (SJGC) to be heard,” Mizell said. “To receive recognition from the SPJ alone is an honor, but to be a finalist means that my article had an impact. Now I'm not just a journalist. I'm an award-winning journalist and I have J-School to thank for that.”