Katherine Harmon Wins SPJ Award

Chuck Zimmerman

LPC/AAEA GamesThanks to University of Missouri graduate and former AgWired student blogger, Margy Fischer, Farm Journal
Machinery Editor, Test Plot Assistant Director for the heads up on this. This is from the text of an email announcement from Mizzou professor Bill Allen. He also sent along the picture of Katherine.

I just wanted to let you folks know that Journalism graduate student Katherine Harmon won a major award last weekend for a story she began reporting during the 2007 Sonja Hillgren/Farm Journal Ag Journalism Field Reporting Institute.

In Ames, Iowa, on Saturday (April 5), Katie was awarded first place in the In-Depth Reporting category of the annual Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards for Region 7. (Region 7 covers Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska.)

Her story, “Murky Waters,” published Nov. 10 in the Columbia Missourian, detailed the evolving scientific understanding of Missouri River sediment and the impact that understanding is having on resource management, agriculture, public policy and people. (See http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2007/11/10/murky-waters/ to read the story.

Thanks to all of you for helping to make this achievement possible and for strengthening the wonderfully cross-fertilizing partnership of Ag Journalism and Journalism that Sonja represents.

Publication, University