Spinnaker’s former editor-in-chief, Carter Mudgett, placed 12th among the top 20 students for the national Hearst Investigative Competition Award, according to Wednesday’s results.

Mudgett graduated earlier this month with a Bachelor of Science in Multimedia Journalism. He placed in this competition with an investigation into the University of North Florida’s handling of a sexual assault case that was published in December 2023.

He began working at Spinnaker as a government reporter in January 2021 before quickly being promoted to news editor and editor-in-chief. As editor-in-chief, he led Spinnaker to win an Associated Collegiate Press Online Pacemaker Award.

Nineteen other students from around the country placed for this award, including two from the University of Florida. One of the UF students was among the top five, alongside those from Hampton University, Arizona State University, Michigan State University and the University of Maryland.

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program, founded in 1960, awards up to $700,000 in scholarships to students for outstanding college journalism, according to its website.

It hosts writing, photojournalism, audio, television and multimedia competitions open to journalism majors active in their college media organizations at accredited domestic universities.

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