WASHINGTON – Students in the Department of Journalism received top honors in the Mark of Excellence Awards during the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Region 2 conference in Norfolk, Va.

HowardUniversityNewsService.com was awarded Best Independent Online Student Publication and Best Online In-Depth Reporting for its eight-part series on the “food deserts” in the District of Columbia. In the series, students reported that fast food and alcohol were easier to find than fresh fruit and vegetables in some parts of the city. The journalists examined the dearth of supermarkets in some areas of the city, as well as access problems related to transportation and personal finances. The student journalists also uncovered inequitable food prices in the city.

Candace Smith, bureau chief of ABC on Campus and a broadcast journalism senior, won second place in the Television Feature category for “Too Broke for the Vow of Poverty.” The feature examined why aspiring nuns must be debt-free before they can join the sisterhood. The Howard bureau of ABC on Campus is one of six such bureaus in the country.