Scripps student receives national journalism award

A rising senior in Ohio University E.W. Scripps School of Journalism received a Mark of Excellence award for a story he wrote about video game accessibility.

Joseph Stanichar, from Cincinnati, Ohio, wrote the piece titled “Why Many Disabled Players Call ‘The Last of Us Part II’ The Most Accessible Videogame Yet” for Paste Magazine in 2020. It received the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence award in Video Game Reporting. The awards were announced in June.

“I am so happy and grateful to accept the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence award for video game reporting,” Stanichar said. “It has been my goal to write in video game and entertainment journalism since high school, and I was overjoyed to see the new category joining the SPJ's other Mark of Excellence awards this year. Video games are a rapidly evolving and fascinating field that deserves quality reporting as much as any other, and I applaud the SPJ for recognizing this with the introduction of the category.”

OHIO is part of SPJ’s Region 4, which includes students at universities in Michigan, Ohio, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Stanichar was the winner in the Region 4 Mark of Excellence competition in the spring to advance to the national competition against students from SPJ’s other 11 regions. OHIO competes in the large university division.

“I wanted to highlight how inaccessible many games can be to audiences with disabilities and how contemporary titles are tackling these issues,” Stanichar said. “I am grateful to everyone I interviewed for the piece, my editor and internship mentor, Garrett Martin, and my parents for supporting me and allowing me to use part of their home as my internship's office during the pandemic.”

Nerissa Young is SPJ chapter adviser at OHIO and entered Stanichar’s work in the competition.

“Joseph deserves this award for writing about a topic that is an important part of American culture and in a context that reminds us of the importance of inclusion in all aspects of American life,” Young said.

Stanichar will be honored for his work at SPJ’s national convention online and in New Orleans in September.

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.