The Knox Student Earns Another National Award

by Bailey Musselman '18

The Knox Student, Knox College's student-run newspaper, recently was recognized nationally at the Associated Collegiate Press fall conference in Austin, Texas. Co-editor Kate Mishkin ‘16 earned honorable mention for best collegiate feature story in the nation for 2015 for her in-depth piece, "Sighting Andrea."

Mishkin attended the conference October 30-November 1, along with other TKS staff members: News Editor Rachel Landman ‘17 and Mosaic Co-Editors Nadia Spock ‘17 and Elizabeth Clay ‘17.

Mishkin has won a number of journalism awards during her time at Knox. She was previously awarded fourth place by the Associated Collegiate Press in 2014 for a story she co-wrote. She's also received awards for news writing, in-depth reporting and feature writing from the Illinois Collegiate Press Association, as well as Kimble and Tarbell Prizes in feature writing and investigative reporting from Knox College.

When asked what she attributes her success to, Mishkin cannot help but thank the Knox community.

"I attribute my success to a great community at Knox. The story took several months to report on and write, and the TKS staff was patient and encouraging while I worked on it. We all put in over 20 hours of work a week and dedicated a lot of our time and energy to this newspaper, and it's always really rewarding to get noticed for it." said Mishkin.

Mishkin added that it is incredible to be recognized on a national level, especially since it reflects well on The Knox Student.

"What makes TKS different from other newspapers is our commitment and wide range of experience and knowledge. We have a lot of different people on staff with a lot of different areas of expertise like multimedia and narrative writing, which makes us a lot more well-rounded and able to accomplish more. We're also completely student-run," said Mishkin.

The Knox Student was founded in 1878 by S.S. McClure, who created McClure's Magazine after graduating from Knox. TKS has received various other awards in recent years, including fourth place for News Story of the Year in 2013 by the Associated Collegiate Press and best All-Around Non Daily Student Newspaper, in Region 5 (Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky) by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Last year, TKS was named a finalist for the Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker Award for the first time since 1976. When asked what has changed in TKS during recent years, advisor Tom Martin noted the diligence and vision of the students.

"Since becoming advisor of TKS in 2009, I've watched a string of talented editors push themselves and their staffs to higher achievement. There is a sense of pride at TKS, and the students raise expectations year after year. And their work is being recognized nationally because they are taking on and telling more challenging stories."

Martin noted the hard work of each student, acknowledging that they each have something to offer to the paper.

"The snowballing success of TKS is due to the dedication of the students. This is serious business for them. Kate Mishkin, for example, has now earned two national writing awards for the newspaper and that's not taking into account any of her work yet as a senior. Students such as Kate set an example of what it takes to be the best."