Student Newspaper Wins 18 Awards in Journalism Contest

Editors and staff of The Knox Student harvested the fruits of their labor when they received 18 awards for their journalism work during the Illinois College Press Association's most recent annual conference.

A weekly Knox College campus newspaper and online news site, The Knox Student (TKS) received second place in General Excellence in its division in the ICPA contest, which recognized work published during the 2013 calendar year. This marks the fourth time since 2010 that TKS has taken first place or second place in the General Excellence category.

TKS received 17 additional awards in the contest, including five for first place in various categories. Results of the contest were announced at the ICPA's 2014 convention in February in Chicago, Illinois.

Contest judges praised the TKS staff, saying, "Wonderful photography, clean design, strong writing and editing, and wide range of coverage make The Knox Student one of the state's best student newspapers."

TKS advisor Tom Martin said the awards reflect well on journalism at Knox.

"The Knox Student is a standout newspaper in its division year after year," he said. "The student journalists are bright and dedicated to providing a quality newspaper by telling stories that matter to campus."

Thirteen TKS staffers attended the conference and participated in journalism workshops. Those who attended included editor-in-chief Charlie Megenity, digital editor Chelsea Embree, news editor Matt Barry, news editor Kate Mishkin, Mosaic editor Camille Brown, Discourse editor Samantha Paul, art director Carina Tran, senior photo editor Michelle Orr, photo editor Jason Deschamps, photo editor Casey Mendoza, reporter Julian Boireau, copy editor Ellen Lipo, and business manager Franz Huebner. Martin and Knox Assistant Professor of Journalism James Dyer also attended.

The Knox Student was founded in 1878 by S.S. McClure who, after graduating from Knox, created McClure's Magazine, one of the first publications in the field of American investigative journalism.

For most ICPA contest categories, TKS competed against other non-daily newspapers at schools with an enrollment of 4,000 or fewer. In "open" categories, such as for Online News Site, TKS competed against all college newspapers in the contest.

Here is a complete list of the TKS awards:

First Place

• Editorial, staff
• Front Page Layout, Julian Boireau
• Feature Photo, Michelle Orr
• General News Photo, Michelle Orr
• Spot News Photo, Michelle Orr

Second Place

• General Excellence, staff
• Column, Matt Barry
• In-Depth Reporting, Matt McKinney, Camille Brown, and Samantha Paul
• News Story, Matt McKinney and Kate Mishkin
• Sports News Story, Jackson White and Gavin Crowell
• Sports Photo, Jason Deschamps
• Spot News Photo, Jason Deschamps

Third Place

• Photo Essay, Jason Deschamps, Casey Mendoza, and Robert Turski
• Sports Page Design, Carina Tran and Gavin Crowell
• Feature Story, Kate Mishkin

Honorable Mention

• Online News Site, staff
• Column, Ivan Keta
• Photo Essay, Michelle Orr