Top photo: Some of the faculty, alumni and students attending the RTDNAC awards ceremony: (l to r): Hanna Barton, Senior Instructor Laura Smith, Deric Rush, Finn Carlin, Justin Walsh, Ashley Listrom and Davia Pugh.
Student journalists from the University of South Carolina were celebrated Nov. 11 at the 2023 Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas Convention at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The students, most of whom have since graduated and are now working in the industry, were honored for work completed during their Senior Capstone Course in 2022-23, Carolina News.
Finn Carlin won the top student award and was named the D. Haney Howell Student Journalist of the Year. Carlin also placed first in the Best Student Feature Reporting and Best Student News Reporting categories. He is now a news producer for Action News Jax.
The Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas is a nonprofit, volunteer organization dedicated to showcasing the best broadcast journalism in North Carolina and South Carolina and supporting college students who aspire to a journalism career.
Haney Howell Student Journalist of the Year
- 1st Place: Finn Carlin
Ken White Best Student Newscast
- 2nd Place: Carolina News: April 4, 2023 – Alex Ross. Ross has interned at WACH FOX 57 in Columbia will graduate in 2024.
Best Student TV Weathercast
- 1st Place: Carolina News Weathercast: Caiden Dinkins – March 16, 2023. Dinkins is the morning meterologist at KTXS-12 ABC in Abilene, Texas.
Best Student Feature Reporting
- 1st Place: Real Men Read – Finn Carlin
- 2nd Place: Soldiers Fight Their Way Through Fort Jackson’s Night Course – Joshua Tekle, Ashley Listrom. Tekle is an audio visual technician and live sound engineer with Listrom is a multimedia journalist at WMBF News in Myrtle Beach.
Best Student News Reporting
- 1st Place: SCDOT Unveils Major I-77 Bridge Repair Project – Finn Carlin
Best Student Sports Story
- 2nd Place: These Dames Play Tackle – Kendall Smith. Smith is now a Charlotte Knights Team Reporter, Charlotte Checkers Host and ESPN+ Sideline Reporter.
Best Student Sportscast
- 2nd Place: Carolina News Sportscast: Hanna Barton. Barton is now a graduate student at IU-Purdue.