Nov. 7, 2023

Student media outlets pick up awards at national media conventions

Northwest Missouri State University Student Media received numerous accolades Oct. 29 through Nov. 2 in Atlanta during the Fall National College Media Convention sponsored by Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) and the College Media Association (CMA).

KNWT Channel 8, KZLX radio, The Northwest Missourian student newspaper and Tower yearbook returned to Maryville with a total of 31 organizational and individual CMA Pinnacle Awards, which represent the best student media work in the nation.

In addition to 11 first-place honors for individual staff members, Tower yearbook received first place among books published by schools with enrollments of 9,999 and under. The Northwest Missourian website earned second place in the Website of the Year category for schools with enrollments between 3,000 and 9,999 students; KNWT received second place in the TV Station of the Year category.

Northwest student media organizations also received numerous ACP Best in Show honors presented to schools attending the convention, including second place for Best Yearbook, fourth place for Best Newspaper and Fifth Place for “Channel 8 News” in the Broadcast News Program category. 

Steven Chappell, who has served as Northwest’s director of student publications since 2012 and has more than 25 years of college newspaper advising experience, also was inducted into CMA’s John A. Boyd Hall of Fame.

“For Northwest to return from the Fall National College Media Convention with more than 40 awards is just a testament to the talent level our student media cultivate, not to mention the talent of our mass media faculty who teach them in the classroom and empower them with the skills to step into our media spaces and produce content that competes with the largest and best-known programs across the country,” Chappell said. “Nothing, in my opinion, demonstrates Northwest’s commitment to ‘Career Ready, Day One’ better than our student media program.” 

The awards and honors received by Northwest student media in Atlanta add to recognition Northwest students received Oct. 12-14 during the College Media Business and Advertising Managers Convention in Minneapolis. There, Northwest students received a third-place award for Best Sales Incentive Program and an honorable mention for Best Seasonal Sales Promotion.

A complete listing of awards received by Northwest student media organizations and individual staff members at the Fall National College Media Convention is provided below.

Best in Show awards

• Fourth place, Broadcast Feature Story: Jason Holland, “Harris Carries the Bearcats” (KNWT)
• Second place, Broadcast Sports Story: Caleb Allen, “NW vs Newman” (KNWT)
• Fifth place, Newspaper Design: Savannah Athy-Sedbrook and Julianna Lawrence, “Broken Pipes” (The Northwest Missourian)
• Third place, Yearbook Design: Elizabeth Brightwell, “Faces of Debt” (Tower)
• Third place, Best Advertising Media Kit, four-year colleges: Northwest Student Media
• Fifth Place, Broadcast News Program: KNWT, “Channel 8 News”
• Fourth Place, Best Newspaper (15,000 students or fewer): The Northwest Missourian
• Second Place, Best Yearbook: Tower

Film and Audio Festival awards

• Third place, Long Documentary: Riley Whittington, “It Takes All Kinds” (KNWT)
• Honorable mention, Newscast: Kaylin Byland, “Channel 8 News” (KNWT)

Organizational CMA Pinnacle awards

• Second place, Newspaper Website of the Year (3,000-9,999 enrollment): The Northwest Missourian
• First Place, Yearbook of the Year (9,999 and under enrollment): Tower
• Second place, TV Station of the Year: KNWT

Individual CMA Pinnacle awards

Best of Collegiate Design

• Second place, Best Editorial Cartoon: Alexandria Mesz, “Title IX” (The Northwest Missourian)
• First place, Best Editorial Illustration: Emily Kunkel and Addalynn Bradbury, “BSA Bonded” (Tower)
• First place, Best Newspaper Opinion Page/Spread: MaKayla Polak, “Distraction” (The Northwest Missourian)
• First place, Best Newspaper Sports Page/Spread: MaKayla Polak, “Upset” (The Northwest Missourian)
• First place, Best Special Section/Cover: Elizabeth Brightwell, “Faces of Debt” (Tower)
• Third place, Best Yearbook Cover: Emily Kunkel (Tower)
• First place, Best Yearbook Entertainment Page/Spread: Nicole Dietzenbach, “Dancing Cats” (Tower)
• First place, Best Yearbook Feature Page/Spread: Cecelia Nguyen, “Under the Surface” (Tower)
• Third place, Best Yearbook News Page/Spread: Emily Kunkel, “Mini Mag” (Tower)
• Third place, Best Yearbook Sports Page/Spread: Nicole Dietzenbach, “Northwest to NFL” (Tower)

Advertising

• Honorable mention, Best Multimedia Ad Campaign: Vanessa Weiler and Jerilynn Hoover (The Northwest Missourian)
• Third Place, Best Rate Card/Media Kit: Vanessa Weiler and Jerilynn Hoover (The Northwest Missourian)
• Honorable Mention, Best Reader Promotion Campaign: Vanessa Weiler and Jerilynn Hoover (The Northwest Missourian)

Audio/Video

• First place, Best Audio/Talk Entertainment Program: Joe Jinks, Jacob Mustard, Blake Rizner and Tyrell Childress, “The Time Machine” (KZLX)
• First place, Best Short (sub-3 min) Video/Entertainment: Joe Jinks, “Get the Clip” (KNWT)
• First place, Best Use of Short (sub 3-minute) Video for News and Information: Kirsten Stokes, “FBLA conference” (KNWT)
• Honorable mention, Best Video Entertainment Program: Lauren Liberty, “Gentoo” (KNWT)
• Third place, Best Video Newscast: Kaylin Byland, “Channel 8 News” (KNWT)
• Second place, Best Video Promo/PSA: Caleb Allen, “Tower Yearbook” (KNWT)
• Second place, Best Video Sportscast, KNWT: Kaylin Byland and Skyler Stamps, “Bearcat Update” (KNWT)

Reporting

• Third place, Best Column: MaKayla Polak, “Stop Rewriting History” (The Northwest Missourian)
• Honorable mention, Best Special Section (more than four pages): The Northwest Missourian staff, “Domestic Violence Awareness Month”

Photography

• Third place, Best Breaking News Photo: Addalynn Bradbury (Tower)
• Honorable mention, Best Feature Photo: Addalynn Bradbury (Tower)
• Third place, Best General News Photo: Addalynn Bradbury (Tower)

Sports

• First place, Best Sports Game Story: Wesley Miller, “Never Gets Old” (The Northwest Missourian)
• First place, Best Sports Section: Wesley Miller, Sports Editor (The Northwest Missourian)
• Second place, Best Web Sports Section: Wesley Miller, Sports Editor (The Northwest Missourian)