By the USU department of journalism and communication

LOGAN -- Utah State University journalism students were named among the best in the United States this month at the national convention of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) in Fort Worth, Texas.

The honors, all in SPJ's new online news category, elevate the USU students and their "Hard News Café" online news website into the top echelon in the fast-growing arena of web-based news delivery.

Competing against the best of U.S. collegiate journalism, Ruth Turner, Holli Gunnell Weiss and Leon D'souza won for their articles that appeared last year on the Hard News Café, which also was named one of the top three student news "publications" in the country.

"This is an extraordinary achievement for Ruth, Holli and Leon," said Ted Pease, head of USU's journalism and communication department. "Our Hard News Café website combines the best of traditional reporting and writing with a vibrant new medium. This success at the national level certainly confirms that USU's journalism program is on the map."

Turner, a 2002 journalism graduate from Perry, Utah, was the national winner in the online feature reporting category for her story, "Breaking the cycle of delinquency: Therapy, talking, working, schooling . . . and bobbing chicken heads." The story was written for an advanced reporting class and appeared on the Hard News Café last spring.

Weiss, a 2002 journalism graduate from Petaluma, Calif., was one of the top three in the nation for her story in the online general news reporting category, for her story, "USU student finds bacteria gene that repairs damage from sun," which also appeared on the website last spring. Weiss is now a reporter for The Logan Herald-Journal.

D'souza, a print journalism junior from India, was one of the top three in the online opinion and commentary category for his trio of columns, "Is India Falling?", "Chaos is King" and "To Counter Terrorism," which appeared on the news website during the 2001-02 school year.

And the Hard News Café was named one of the three best independent student online publications, along with student websites at Northwestern University and the University of Alabama.

Entries from all over the country were judged in 45 different categories of newspaper journalism, magazines, TV news, radio and the new online news category. In order to be entered in the competition, students had to have won first place in their categories in previous regional competitions. In the regional Mark of Excellence competition last spring, USU online journalists swept the four-state region, winning 12 of 18 awards in the online category, including five firsts.

Pease said that although USU journalism students do well every year in regional competitions, winning 17 awards last spring, "this is the first time since I have been at Utah State that our students have won at the national level. This is a very big deal. I am very, very proud of them."

The Hard News Café, created three years ago by the USU journalism department as an outlet for student reporting, draws its material from students in regular reporting classes and from others who submit articles to the student editors. Overseen by journalism professors Michael Sweeney and Nancy Williams, the news website is an example of the convergence of technologies in the news business, Pease said.

"Way to go, guys," Sweeney said.

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