Two Lantern staff members won first-place awards Saturday in the Society of Professional Journalists regional college journalism contest.
Reporter Kathy Cubert and photographer Zach Tuggle, both journalism students, won the Mark of Excellence awards for work the did for The Lantern in 2009.
Cubert won the feature writing category for a story she wrote about her 24-year-old daughter, Deanna, who was being sent to Iraq for her third tour of duty.
“This story was truly from my heart,” Cubert said. “It was hard to pick just one moment of our time together to capture in the story.”
Tuggle won the general news photography category for his courtroom photograph of a former OSU student who dropped out of the university and went on a crime spree. The photograph of Jeffrey York shows the man with his head in his handcuffed hands.
The awards were announced Saturday in Cleveland at the annual SPJ Region 4 convention. Colleges submitted about 500 entries in 38 categories. The region covers schools in Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania.
For Cubert, the award is a source of motivation.
“An award leads to higher expectations, meaning you have to push yourself,” she said.
Originally interested in photography, Cubert started to develop a passion for journalism 25 years ago as a student at Valencia Community College in Florida.
“I took my first class on news reporting there and loved it,” she said.
Cubert quickly found success as a journalist at Valencia. She was recognized at the start of her journalism career, receiving an outstanding achievement award from the college for her first story on a car theft.
Several years later, Cubert came to OSU to finish her undergraduate degree in journalism.
“I wanted no regrets and decided to come back to school,” she said.
For Tuggle, the award was both a surprise and an honor.
“It’s rewarding and refreshing to know that I’m on the right track with my style of photography,” he said.
Although his award was for a photograph, Tuggle is also interested in writing and reporting. During his senior year of high school, Tuggle became a sports writer at his local newspaper, the Mt. Vernon News. At age 19, he won an honorable mention from the Associated Press of Ohio for his series of stories on a flood that damaged a nearby town.
“You have to look for good stories and opportunities,” Tuggle said. “They won’t come right to you.”
Tuggle enjoys one particular kind of writing the most.
“I love writing features,” he said. “I have the opportunity to mix my work with fiction and tell a story to the readers.”
Cubert and Tuggle plan to continue their work as journalists.
“I would like to start working with The Columbus Dispatch on photography,” Cubert said. “I also want to learn different kinds of multimedia.”
Tuggle hopes to one day write a book and have his own business.
“Twenty years from now, I wouldn’t mind running a publication company of my own,” he said.
Cubert and Tuggle’s first-place entries have been forwarded to the Mark of Excellence national competition. Those results will be announced later this year.
To read the original story by Cubert, click
