Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Arrow staff and mass media students win more than 20 awards at MCMA conference

Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Arrow advisor Kate Stepaniuc (left) poses with features editor Nicolette Baker as she holds the Journalist of the Year award. Baker revived the award during the Missouri College Media Association Conference on April 9.
Photo by Nathan Gladden

The Arrow staff attended the Missouri College Media Association (MCMA) Conference, where they won 23 awards across 16 categories on April 8 and 9 at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Mo.

The Arrow staff submitted their work for 35 awards and won eight first-place awards, four second place, five third place and four honorable mention awards, as well as the coveted Journalist of the Year award.

Arrow Co-adviser Kate Stepaniuc said she is proud of the Arrow Staff and her students.

“Our students work hard, and it is a testament to the work that they do and the effort that they put into their work,” she said.

The conference included individual and overall awards for the staff and newspapers.

The individuals who won awards are:

Nicolette Baker — Journalist of the Year, 1st Place Photo Page, 1st Place Feature Page, 2nd Place Investigative Reporting, Honorable Mention News Writing and Honorable Mention Feature Page

Anna Estes — 1st Place Photo Page and 1st Place Feature Page

Alisha Reisenbichler — 1st Place Story Illustration, 1st Place Photo Page, 1st Place Feature Page and Honorable Mention Feature Page

Jackson Bradshaw — 1st Place Creative Film Festival for short film “Untitled Self Portrait”

Jasmine Jones — 1st Place Investigative Reporting and 2nd Place in the Creative Film Festival for short film “Sometimes”

Ciara Potter — 1st Place Feature Photography and 3rd Place Feature Page

Lucas Irizarry — 2nd and 3rd Place Page One Design

Nathaniel Henley — 3rd Place Creative Film Festival for short film “Drukqs”

Tabatha Jeaux — 3rd Place Creative Film Festival for short film “Drukqs”

April Styer — 3rd Place Feature Page

Cynthia Wallman — 3rd Place Feature Page

Noelle Williams — 3rd Place Video and Honorable Mention Video

Justin Trovillion — Honorable Mention Sports Writing

Journalist of the Year is an award given to one person in the entire state, and this year, it was awarded to Arrow Features and Copy Editor Nicolette Baker. To win this award, Baker submitted letters of recommendation, multiple articles she’s written and a personal statement. Baker is the second Southeast Missouri State University student to win this award.

“It was the best feeling, seeing the last four years come up in a material thing that I can hold and seeing it all come to fruition is amazing, and I am very proud of my team for their support and all the things that they do. I’m really honored,” Baker said.

Tamara Buck, co-adviser of the Arrow for the past 10 years and former Arrow editor-in-chief, attended the MCMA conference this past weekend.

“I like to see my individual students nominated and winning awards. I like to see the recognition and visibility that it provides the program, as well as the Arrow, because I think it’s an assessment of our multimedia journalism program,” Buck said.

The Arrow staff also won awards as a group, including first place for Campus Engagement/ Promotions and Special Section or Supplement; second place for In-Depth News Reporting and Sweepstakes; and third place for Special Section or Supplement and Website.

Nathan Gladden, editor-in-chief of the Arrow, was named the new president of MCMA for the 2022-23 school year.

“I know how much work we put in on a day-to-day on everything we come out with, and I think [winning these awards is] more validation of the staff that I run and my work that we put into the paper. It's a really nice thing to see that,” Gladden said. “It was a really awesome moment to see Nicolette win Journalist of the Year. That was really cool, and I think for us, it was really cool to win best overall newspaper in Division II.”

Next year's conference will be hosted on SEMO’s campus and will be organized by Gladden and Stepaniuc, as Buck will step down as the Arrow adviser after 10 years of service at the end of the Spring 2022 semester.

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