Student paper wins media advisers’ Apple Award

widmer

Laura Widmer

The “Northwest Missourian,” Northwest’s weekly student newspaper, recently received the David L. Adams Apple Award in the non-daily broadsheet category at this year’s College Media Advisers Spring National Convention in New York City.

Published each Thursday during the fall and spring trimesters, the “Northwest Missourian” covers both the University and the Maryville area. It is consistently ranked among the top college papers in the country by the Associated Collegiate Press and is a multiple winner of ACP’s Pacemaker Award -- considered the college journalism equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize.

“Northwest Missourian” Editor-in-Chief Kristine Hotop submitted two issues of the paper, Jan. 17 and Jan. 31, for consideration by editors from the “New York Times,” who served as CMA contest judges.

The Apple Award is a best-of-show honor given to one publication in each category of the convention’s publications competition. The prize was recently renamed in honor of Adams, the longtime director of student media at Indiana University who died suddenly last year.

Laura Widmer, assistant professor of mass communication and director of student publications at Northwest, said the award was especially meaningful to her since this year’s apple-shaped trophies were the first to bear the name of her late colleague and friend.

“David was truly one of my mentors” Widmer said. “Whenever I had a life decision to make, he was always one of the first two phone calls.”

Widmer, who attended the convention with 24 Northwest mass communication students, told “Northwest Missourian” reporter Destinee Biesmeyer that, in her opinion, the Apple Award is more significant than a Pacemaker because a single prize is presented in each category.

“I think this is the biggest honor the ‘Missourian’ has ever received,” Widmer said.

Biesmeyer reported that since winning the award, the “Northwest Missourian” has had several requests for copies of the newspaper from other colleges.

"We have set a standard that other people are trying to achieve, and that is a great feeling," she quoted Widmer as saying. "We are a point of comparison, and … that is a motivation for everyone."

CMA is a national organization that seeks to help student media professionals improve their operations. A National Scholastic Press Association Pioneer Award winner, Widmer is past-president of CMA and a member of the organization’s Hall of Fame.

For the on-line edition of the “Northwest Missourian,” go to www.nwmissourinews.com.

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone: 660.562.1704
Fax: 660.562.1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

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