Daily Bruin named best college newspaper

The UCLA Daily Bruin was named “Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper” recently by the Society of Professional Journalists.

“The SPJ award is an amazing distinction, and I think the staff of the Daily Bruin deserves the honor for all their dedication and stellar work,” said Jeff Schenck, editor in chief of the Daily Bruin.

“The Daily Bruin continues a tradition of quality journalism that has developed at UCLA, but there are so many great college papers around the country that I’m just so proud we were chosen,” said the senior Political Science major who will go to work at Yahoo when he graduates in a few days.

Each year, the SPJ's Mark of Excellence Awards honors the best in college journalism. This year there were over 3,300 entries in 39 categories, which included awards for print, radio, television and online collegiate journalism.

The Daily Bruin was also named the best college newspaper in the country in 2003 and was runner-up in 2004. Additionally, The Daily Bruin was named best college newspaper in the west in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006.

Applicants were judged based on journalism principles such as accuracy, completeness, effectiveness and ingenuity of stories. The panel of professional journalists also judged for adherence to high journalistic standards and clarity, insight and respect for the audience.

The Society of Professional Journalists was founded in 1909 and is the nation’s most broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior.

“The people here are who deserve all the credit for this SPJ award do such great work because they believe that journalism is so important to our campus,” said Schenck.