April 19, 2019

Student Media groups, members claim awards at state, national contests

Northwest Missouri State University Student Media captured nearly 50 awards this spring at state and national college media conventions, and Tower Yearbook placed in all eight categories at the Missouri College Media Convention April 13 in Springfield, Missouri. 

At the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) Midwinter National College Journalism Convention, Feb. 28 through March 3 in La Jolla, California, Tower Yearbook placed third in the convention’s Best in Show Competition. At the College Media Association (CMA) Spring National College Media Convention, March 6-9 in New York City, the yearbook placed second for Best Yearbook Cover. 

Also at the CMA spring convention, The Northwest Missourian student newspaper earned a third place for Best Newspaper. 

At the College Media Business and Advertising Managers (CMBAM) annual convention, held jointly with the ACP convention in La Jolla, the Northwest Missourian earned an Honorable Mention for Best Sales Incentive Program and second place for Best Sales Strategy of a Special Section

Northwest Student Media brought home 43 awards from the Missouri Broadcast Educators Association and Missouri College Media Association (MCMA) convention April 13, including 11 first place awards. Tower Yearbook won for Best Theme Development/Best Yearbook at the convention. KNWT won first place for best video commercial, and the Missourian took second place in the overall convention sweepstakes. 

Madi Nolte, a junior multimedia journalism major and Missourian photographer from Chamois, Missouri, placed second in the MCMA Photojournalist of the Year competition.

Elizabeth Brown, who served as editor-in-chief of the 2018 Tower yearbook, said the accolades were a recognition of the staff’s commitment to telling Northwest’s story.

“When you’re creating a yearbook you aren’t thinking about the awards it might win,” Brown said. “All you think about is capturing the year and telling your school’s story. The awards are something that is just icing on the cake for all of your hard work. I am so proud of the book we produced and cannot thank the staff enough for being so awesome.”

Missourian Editor-in-Chief Darcie Dujakovich, a senior multimedia journalism major from Lawson, Missouri, said the entire staff contributed to the award-winning year. 

“I am so proud of the hard work each and every staff member has put in to this publication, it has definitely paid off,” she said. “This is my fifth and final year on staff, and I am proud of the progress we’ve made and the awards we’ve won. But I am even more excited to see how the staff will build on the progress we’ve made and what they will accomplish in the future. They are all so talented and dedicated, I can only imagine how well they will do moving forward.”

Northwest Student Business Manager Leslie Murphy serves as CMBAM’s vice president for conventions. Director of Student Media Steven Chappell serves as CMA Treasurer. 

A full list of state awards earned by Northwest Student Media are listed below. 

Missouri Broadcast Educators Association

• Best Video Commercial: Maria Babcock, first place, “Bearcat Update”
• Best Video Feature News Story: Ben Whitney and Cailey Hartenhoff, honorable mention, “Homecoming Revisited”
• Best Video Sports Show: Maria Babcock, second place, “Bearcat Update”

Missouri College Media Association

Tower Yearbook

Feature Photography

• Courtney Leinen, first place, “Color by Mural”
• Hailey Howard, honorable mention, “Senior Nikol Kiley expresses her support for the participants of the Me Too campaign”

Sports Photography

• Hailey Howard, third place, “Mules Down”

Feature Writing

• Ben Moran, first place, “All we need is 34 seconds”
• Katie Stevenson, second place, “Me Too”
• Ben Moran, honorable mention, “Culture Wins”

Personality Sketch

• Ben Moran, first place, “Offutt the record”
• Rachel Adamson, honorable mention, "First female provost”
• Ben Moran, honorable mention, “The woman behind the band”

Student Life Design

• Emily Noyes, first place, “Me Too”

Sports Design

• Emily Noyes, first place, “All we need is 34 seconds”
• Kyrah Campbell, third place, “Diamonds in the Rough”

Portrait Design

• Elizabeth Brown, second place, “Kelley/Fett”

Overall Theme Development/Best Yearbook

• Tower Yearbook, first place

Northwest Missourian

Advertising

• Missourian Advertising Staff, third place, “Board Game Cafe”

News Writing

• Darcie Bradford Dujakovich, honorable mention, “A collective voice: Students come together to combat derogatory language”
• Samantha Collison, honorable mention, “Northwest student organization, HERO, honors transgender lives lost to violence”

Editorial Writing

• Rachel Adamson, first place, “Unnecessary outcry: New policy has Northwest students riled up for no reason”

Feature Writing

• Michael Cripe, second place, “‘Mr. Bicycle Guy’: Arnold Roebkes proves positivity comes in all shapes and sizes”
• Trent Spinner, honorable mention, “Memory of aunt follows Gutierrez on field”

Sports Writing

• Andrew Wegley, second place, “Northwest men’s basketball overcomes slow start for conference victory”
• Andrew Wegley, third place, “Maryville football trounces Odessa in quarterfinal matchup at ’Hound Pound”

Column

• Meka Wright, third place, “Your Bearcat wants you to watch your step”
• Meka Wright, honorable mention, “How a PWI resurrected my ‘blackness’”

Sports Column

• Andrew Wegley, first place, “There's no room for offensive mascots in sports”
• Andrew Wegley, third place, Sports Column, “Early playoff exits are not end of world for Maryville teams”

News Photography

• Madi Nolte, second place, “Sophomore emergency disaster management major Natalie Cote assesses the severity of a role player's injuries during a Missouri Hope exercise”
• Rachel Adamson, honorable mention, “University graphic designer Ashlee Hendrix holds a sign during a protest for gun control at the International Flag Plaza on campus for National Walkout Day”

Political/Editorial Cartoon

• Colin Vaughan, second place, “Conversion Therapy”
• Colin Vaughan, third place, “Greek allegations”

Nonpolitical/Entertainment Cartoon

• Colin Vaughan, second and third place, “Paranormal Inactivity”

Information Graphic

• Ryan Griesinger, first place, “Election Results”

Page One Design

• Ryan Griesinger, second place, “Perennial powers to clash in Kansas”

Editorial/Op-Ed Page

• Missourian Staff, third place, “Tuition increase”

Sports Page

• Missourian Staff, first place, “Written in red”
• Taylor Gonnerman, honorable mention, “Make or Break”

Feature Page

• Emily Noyes, third place, “John Gallaher”

Website

• Northwest Missourian, second place

Sweepstakes

• Northwest Missourian, second place