The Arrow student-run newspaper captured 13 awards, including two first-place honors, at the annual Missouri College Media Association Convention Saturday.
The Arrow also placed second in the state in the Best Overall Newspaper for Division I, which included student newspapers at Lindenwood University, Missouri State University, Saint Louis University, University of Missouri at Columbia, University of Missouri at Kansas City, University of Missouri at St. Louis, University of Central Missouri, and Washington University.
The awards were announced at Truman State University in a ceremony to recognize the top student journalism in the state for 2013. MCMA is a student-led media organization that provides student journalists leadership experience in college media organizations.
Dr. Tamara Zellars Buck, assistant professor in the Department of Mass Media , attended the conference along with Arrow online managing editor Andrea Gils, Jay Forness, Arrow's 2014-2015 managing editor, and Mayo Lawal, who is part of the Arrow's promotions team.
The four attended the conference and gave a presentation titled "Branding Your Paper" which shared with other student-run newspaper the Arrow's branding practices.
Gils said attendees wanted to know about student experiences publishing the Arrow within the public-private partnership between the university and Rust Communications. Additionally, they questioned how the Arrow works as part of the multimedia journalism degree program.
"I was happy to see we had a full house and students were engaged and asked questions. We also brought a few ideas back to share with our current and next year's Arrow staff," Gils said.
Following a series of professional development sessions, students attended a dinner banquet that included a keynote address by Nate Decker, business and sports editor for the Wall Street Journal. The awards ceremony was held after the banquet.
The Arrow and its staff received the following honors:
. 2nd Place, Best Overall Newspaper
. 1st Place, Website Homepage
Andrea Gils (online managing editor)and Savanna Maue (editor-in-chief).
. 1st Place, Feature Page
Marissa Fawcett (reporter), Drew Yount (photographer)and Lauren Fox (page designer) for the story "Bird's Eye View"
. 2nd Place, Sports Page
Jen Gradl (sports editor)for Compete and Play pages, Sept. 11-17.
. 3rd Place, In-Depth News Reporting
Andrea Gils (online managing editor)for "Faculty senate prompts study of chairperson retention"
. 3rd Place, News Writing
Andrea Gils (online managing editor) for "Close to 357 salary employees to see raises"
. 3rd Place, Photo Page
Alyssa Brewer and Jami Black (photo and design editors) for "Upperclassmen help with move in day"
. 3rd Place Sports Writing
Jen Gradl (sports editor) for "Student raises money to aid family in Australia"
. Honorable Mention, Advertising
Sarah Holstein (designer) for "Retribution"
. Honorable Mention, Information Graphic
Andrea Gils (online managing editor) for "Where Southeast was 50 years ago compared to now"
. Honorable Mention, Information Graphic
Michael Ryan (reporter) for "Essential apps every college student needs"
. Honorable Mention, Sports Writing
Ben Striker (reporter) for "Southeast football player delivers off the field"
