The Northwest Missourian was named the best college newspaper in the state of Missouri by the Missouri College Media Association (MCMA) annual awards April 7 during a virtual awards ceremony on Facebook.

The Missourian and Northwest’s Tower yearbook claimed a total of 45 awards during the ceremony, which had been scheduled April 4 during the annual MCMA convention in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The convention was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to being named best newspaper in the state, Gabi Brooks became the seventh Missourian photographer in eight years to be named MCMA Photojournalist of the Year for her portfolio of sports photography appearing in fall 2019 editions of The Missourian.

The Missourian also captured best newspaper in Division II of MCMA, which divides the state’s colleges into four divisions based on enrollment or college type.

Director of Student Publications Steven Chappell said the honors represent the countless hours of hard work the students pour into the newspaper and yearbook.

“These students work countless hours in the basement of Wells Hall to produce some of the best journalism in the state of Missouri,” Chappell said. “The newspaper captures the campus and community each week, and then the yearbook serves as a time capsule of the entire year. These students earned every accolade they received.”

The Missourian took 14 first place awards across the newspaper contest’s 25 categories, which lifted the publication to a sweep of the top three awards – the sweepstakes award for most points earned in the content, best newspaper in its division and best newspaper overall.

Missourian Editor-in-Chief Rachel Adamson said the awards reinforced the effort the staff puts forth each week.

“At the start of every semester we all write our goals for the newspaper on a chalk wall,” Adamson said. “The wall said things like ‘produce good content,’ ‘tell good stories,’ ‘write how it felt,’ and no one was really in it for the awards because working for the newspaper meant so much more than awards. It meant they had a front row seat to history. These awards stand as a testament to the hard work my staff has committed to every single day.”

Missourian Managing Editor Andrew Wegley, who individually earned five awards, including first place for In-Depth News Reporting, said he felt the best was yet to come.

“We hit our stride this semester, and none of that work was even submitted,” Wegley said. “These awards are a testament to what we do every day, to all the deadlines we barely made and the late nights we put in. It’s cool to win awards like this, but it’s a lot cooler to work with such a talented group of people. I’m lucky to work for this newspaper.”

Tower Yearbook placed in every yearbook category, winning 15 awards. The editor-in-chief of the 2019 book, Emily Noyes, echoed her fellow editors’ sentiments.

“The recognition of our staff’s hard work means a lot to me,” Noyes said. “We create content because of our dedication to our readers and to independent journalism, so the awards are an added bonus.”

 

Missourian honors

• Third Place, News Writing, Kendrick Calfee, “Bahamian student loses family members, home in Hurricane Dorian”
• First Place, Feature Writing, Sarah von Seggern, “An open book: Northwest transgender student embraces identity”
• Second Place, Feature Writing, Andrew Wegley, “Veteran cycles across country, into Maryville for suicide awareness”
• Honorable Mention, Feature Writing, Andrew Wegley, “Northwest men’s coach follows unique path to success”
• Second Place, Sports Writing, Jon Walker, “Ahead of the postseason: Maryville football coach Matt Webb reaches career milestone”
• Honorable Mention, Sports Writing, Andrew Wegley, “Northwest men’s basketball clinches second title in three years”
• First Place, In-Depth News Reporting, Andrew Wegley, “Inside the high school official shortage plaguing rural Missouri”
• Honorable Mention, In-Depth News Reporting, Darcie Dujakovich and Rachel Adamson, “Catterson trial continuing coverage”
• Third Place, Column, Nathan English, “Chick-fil-A’s past isn’t reason enough to remove franchise from Northwest Missouri State’s campus”
• First Place, Sports Column, Andrew Wegley, “Proposed MIAA scheduling change rewards mediocrity, penalizes top teams”
• First Place, News Photography, Madi Nolte, “Maryville Public Safety extinguishes a house fire Tuesday afternoon at 610 N. Walnut”
• Honorable Mention, News Photography, Rachel Adamson, “Northwest senior Kylan Harrell called for a group prayer outside the Nodaway County Courthouse Sept. 10 before his trial”
• Honorable Mention, Feature Photography, Madi Nolte, “Members of Sigma Phi Epsilon offer their new brothers a rowdy welcome during Fraternity Bid Day”
• First Place, Sports Photography, Rachel Adamson, “Junior Jhordan Ccope led the charge for the Bearcats at the Missouri Southern Stampede Sept. 21”
• Second Place, Sports Photography, Amanda Wistuba, “Freshman guard Diego Bernard scores on a breakaway layup in the second half of Northwest’s game against Missouri Western Jan. 19”
• First Place, Information Graphic, Madi Nolte, “Campus parking by the numbers”
• Second Place, Information Graphic, Kathy Nguyen, “Counting Sleep”
• Third Place, Information Graphic, Ryan Griesinger, “Texting and Driving”
• Second Place, Story Illustration, AJ Bradbury, “Intoxicating Danger”
• Third Place, Story Illustration, Emily Noyes, “Examining Wellness”
• First Place, Photo Page, Bria Creeden, “Practice Makes Perfect”
• Second Place, Features Page, Emily Noyes, March 14, 2019, features front
• First Place, Best Website, nwmissourinews.com
• Third Place, Multimedia Package, Rachel Adamson and Darcie Dujakovich, “Catterson sentenced to 10 years in prison”
• First Place, Advertising Design, Cora Stout, “Free Puppies”
• Second Place, Advertising Design, Ryan Griesinger, “The Plant House” 
• First Place, Campus Engagement, Tower Yearbook Staff, “Puppy Portraits promotion”
• First Place, Sweepstakes Winner, The Northwest Missourian
• Photojournalist of the Year, Gabrielle Brooks, The Northwest Missourian
• First Place, Division II, Best Overall Newspaper, The Northwest Missourian
• First Place, Best Newspaper in State, The Northwest Missourian

 

Tower honors

• Third Place, Feature Photography, Hailey Howard, “Strike a pose”
• Honorable Mention, Feature Photography, Hailey Howard, “Clapback”
• First Place, Sports Photography, Ben Moran, “Reaching for Victory”
• Third Place, Sports Photography, Hailey Howard, “Raining Confetti”
• Honorable Mention, Sports Photography, Rachel Adamson, “Pushing to Finish”
• Third Place, Feature Writing, Nicole Reed, “Down Under”
• Honorable Mention, Feature Writing, Ben Moran, “A light in the dark”
• First Place, Personality Sketch, Anna Swink, “Healing Haiti”
• Third Place, Personality Sketch, Nicole Reed, “The man who bleeds green”
• Third Place, Student Life Design, Keegan Holmes, “Footloose”
• First Place, Sports Design, Emily Noyes, “Culture Wins”
• Second Place, Sports Design, Kaelee Koranda, “End zone”
• Honorable Mention, Sports Design, Madison Benda, “Step by Step”
• First Place, Portrait Design, Kaelee Koranda, “Baseball”
• Second Place, Overall Theme Development, Tower Staff