51ĀŅĀ×

A story about a competition for womxn-only video game players brought an E.W. Scripps School of Journalism student a second reporting award from the Society of Professional Journalists.

Joseph Stanichar, a senior from Cincinnati, was again honored with the national Video Game Reporting category award in the annual Mark of Excellence competition, which honors the best in student journalism.

Stanicharā€™s story, ā€œ,ā€ was published in 2021 by Paste, an online magazine that covers entertainment. Speedrunning is when gamers compete to finish a game as fast as possible. Stanicharā€™s story is about a marathon that is open only to nonbinary and transgender women ā€” womxn. The awards were announced in June.

ā€œIā€™m more than a little surprised but overjoyed to accept the second Mark of Excellence award in Video Game Reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists,ā€ Stanichar said. ā€œGaming continues to be a colossal force in culture, and I'm so happy to get to continue writing about its impact on the world. My sincerest thanks go out to 51ĀŅĀ×ā€™s professor Kelly Ferguson and Paste Magazine's Garrett Martin for their continued mentorship. This piece could not have existed without them.ā€

Ferguson teaches the schoolā€™s feature writing class.

ā€œFrom the start I knew Joseph had found a great story, and heā€™s a natural writer. That he wrote the story during the peak of the pandemic makes it more impressive," Ferguson said. "He has a talent for reaching out to people and turning them into fully realized characters.ā€

Students compete first within one of 12 regions before advancing to the national Mark of Excellence awards. Stanichar received first place this spring in the Region 4 Mark of Excellence competition. Region 4 includes Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania. 51ĀŅĀ× competes in the large school division ā€” 10,000-plus students.

ā€œWe are proud of Joseph and congratulate him on winning his second SPJ Mark of Excellence award,ā€ said Eddith Dashiell, director of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. ā€œHis award-winning article about womxn-only video game players exemplifies important aspects of journalism education that the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism emphasizes: diversity, technology and experiential learning.ā€ 

ā€œVideo games are for everyone. A personā€™s gender expression should have no bearing on their inclusion within this space,ā€ Stanichar said.

All Mark of Excellence winners will be honored in October during #MediaFest22, the SPJ national conference in Washington, D.C.

SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to informing citizens; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and fights to protect First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press.