Ad team places third in district competition
After months of strategic planning, collaboration and dedicated effort, the 15-member team secured third place overall and also received the prestigious Mosaic Award.
2025-2026 Academic Year
Undergraduate Awards
Broadcast journalism students win Student Production Awards
Work produced in the broadcast capstone course Carolina News earned nine broadcast journalism students four Student Production Awards from the Southeast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, with three others named finalists.
Visual storytelling takes center stage as SJMC students claim 10 VIM Fest honors
Spanning interactive design, animation and compelling photojournalism in both still and video formats, their winning projects showcase the depth, versatility and impact of visual storytelling across platforms.
Award-winning work showcases students’ innovation and industry readiness
Creativity, craft and strategic thinking were on full display as students from the School of Journalism and Mass Communications earned top honors at the Midlands ADDY Awards gala.
RTNDAC student awards announced
SJMC students brought home seven of the first-place awards in the 11 television categories, along with four second-place finishes — even sweeping the awards in several categories.
Students earn national honors at MediaFest25
Staff of the SJMC's Carolina Reporter and other USC student media won top awards from the College Media Association and the Associated Collegiate Press.
Graduate Awards
Ertan Ağaoğlu
Ertan Ağaoğlu, a Ph.D. Candidate in Mass Communications, was recognized for his exploration of “The Global Gender Gap in AI Knowledge and Its Consequences,” which he maps out by age, gender and region. Glenn Bunton, University Libraries Data Visualization Librarian Glenn Bunton says: “Mr. Ağaoğlu’s entry displayed highly effective use of different data visualization types to convey an interesting and timely data-driven story."
Julia Billings
Julia Billings was awarded the 2025-2026 Richard M. Uray Graduate Fellowship from the South Carolina Broadcasters Association. Billings is a graduate student in the CIC pursuing her Master of Mass Communication.
Shamira McCray
Doctoral student Shamira McCray was named a 2025-2026 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications Mass Communication and Society Division Diversity and Inclusion Career Development Fellow
Scholarships
Johnny Chirico (sports media), broadcast journalism students Jalen Long, Karenna Porter, Nicole Smith and Gracen Thomas, and mass communications major Carrigan Woodson were awarded SCBA scholarships for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Previous Academic Terms
USC public relations student elected PRSSA international president
University of South Carolina student Alicia Caracciolo was elected international president of the Public Relations Student Society of America at the organization’s leadership assembly in March.
Two students win Talmadge Moore LeGrand Photojournalism Scholarships
A group of 60 gathered to celebrate the photography created by students participating in the Talmadge Moore LeGrand Photojournalism Workshop led by instructor Renée Ittner-McManus.
Journalism students win Mark of Excellence awards
School of Journalism and Mass communications students received five first-place awards and four finalist awards in the 2024 Region 3 Mark of Excellence competition sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists.
Carolina News students win Student Production Awards
The Southeast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honored four USC students for work created in the broadcast capstone course, Carolina News.
AEJMC announces 2025 VIM Fest winners
Students from the School of Journalism and Mass Communications garnered 10 awards at the AEJMC internationally competitive Festival of Visual & Interactive Media or "VIM Fest" awards
Carolina News & Reporter writers, photojournalists take top SC honors
Seven students from the University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications took top honors in a recent statewide contest for collegiate journalists.
SJMC students win 25 ADDY awards
Advertising and visual communications students from the School of Journalism and Mass Communications earned 25 American Advertising Federation ADDY Awards from the Midland's Chapter. The awards were presented at the chapter's "Under the Stars" gala on Feb. 22.
BEA Festival of Media Arts awards announced
The Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Art has announced that two SJMC students have earned national recognition for work produced for The Carolina News. The awards will be presented at the annual conference in Las Vegas in April.
Zane Heinlein - TV Short Feature: Award of Excellence
More Gen-Z students are enrolling in trade schools, helping fill a skilled worker shortage, and vocational programs nationwide are seeing record enrollment. Zane Heinlein was the photographer and reporter for this story.
Jase Leonard - TV Hard News: Award of Excellence
The search continues for missing Broadway dancer Zelig Williams. Today his family pleaded for his return. Jase Leonard reports.
RTNDA honors 7 students
Seven students from the broadcast journalism capstone course Carolina News were honored by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas with top awards in several categories.
The students garnered four first-place awards and three second place awards.
Elizabeth Martinez, who graduated in May 2024 and is now a multimedia content producer for Spectrum News in Greenville, South Carolina, was named the Haney Howell Student Journalist of the Year.
Visual communications student wins national logo design competition
Senior visual communications major and Honors College student Callie Hribar brought home top honors in the logo design competition sponsored by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
With the first place win, Hribar received a $250 cash prize, and her logo will be featured on all branded ads, signage and promotional material during the 2025 AEJMC conference in San Francisco. Hribar submitted her entry this spring as part of an assignment in the Multimedia for Visual Communications course taught by associate professor Van Kornegay.
2025-2026 CIC Internal Funding Program for Research and Creative Scholarship
Student Projects
Empowering Black Professionals with Terminal Degrees Through Digital Media
Kiera O’Shea (faculty advisor: Bryan Jenkins)
Award amount: $500
Graduate Student Awards
Ertan Ağaoğlu
- 2024 Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching Award, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
Yu (Cindy) Chen
- 2024 Bryce Rucker Graduate Student Excellence in Research Award, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
Shamira McCray
- 2024 Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching Award, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
- 2025-2026 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications Mass Communication and Society Division Diversity and Inclusion Career Development Fellow