Baylor Student Publications Continue to Earn Best in Texas and National Awards
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Contact: Terry Goodrich, (254) 710-3321
WACO, Texas (April 22, 2016) – The Baylor Lariat newspaper, Focus magazine, Roundup yearbook and the baylorlariat.com website recently won another round of state and national awards.
The Columbia Scholastic Press Association announced its Crown Awards at the College Media Convention. The Crown Awards are given for overall excellence in a publication. Of the 1,186 newspapers, magazines, yearbooks and digital publications eligible, Baylor was the only university with publications to earn awards in all three print categories.
This is the second year in a row Baylor stood alone as the only university to win in all three categories. A total of 35 Crowns were awarded to 28 universities. Focus magazine was one of 13 print magazines to be recognized, the Lariat was one of only nine print/online hybrid newspapers, and the Roundup was one of only four yearbooks to receive Crowns. The Lariat has received Crowns four years in a row, while Roundup and Focus have received them the past two years.
"Each publication is led by a different staff of student editors and journalists, and each staff is substantially different every year," said Paul Carr, director of student publications and adjunct faculty in the department of journalism, public relations and new media. "For our student staffs to receive such honors is recognition of the excellence in education that Baylor strives to offer to its students."
In addition to the Crown Awards, all four publications earned a "Best in Texas" award this past month. The Associated Press Managing Editors of Texas also named the Lariat as the best university and college daily newspaper in Texas.
At the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association convention, the staffs of the Lariat, Focus and Roundup won 61 awards. The Lariat and baylorlariat.com both were recognized as first in Texas for overall excellence, and Focus and Roundup both earned the highest point totals in all categories to win sweepstakes.
Individual first place "Best in Texas" student awards from the convention are as follows:
• Cody Soto, Reporter of the Year
• Liesje Powers and Sarah Pyo, two-person photo essay
• Rebecca Flannery, magazine news feature story
• Elizabeth Starr, Taylor Griffin and Travis Taylor, magazine story package
• Magen Davis, magazine illustration
• Laura Beth Moore, magazine feature story
• Jeffrey Swindoll, Joshua Davis, Dane Chronister and Thomas Mott, recurring podcast (radio)
• Stephen Nunnelee, video package (television news)
• Jessica Schurz, newspaper picture story
• Rebecca Flannery, newspaper critical review
• Taylor Griffin, newspaper opinion/editorial page design
• Helena Hunt, newspaper news feature story
• Torie Abbott, yearbook sports copy
• Marcus Maurer, yearbook information graphic
• Sydny Shepard, yearbook cover design
• Sydny Shepard, yearbook academics copy
• Roundup staff, yearbook photo story
• Marcus Maurer, yearbook sports football design
• Cory Ewing, yearbook academic photo
Individual students also won four awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District IV in a direct competition with 261 educational institutions in the five-state region of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. The Lariat won the Gold Award for the best newsletter/newspaper.
Individual awards are as follows:
• Gold: Travis Taylor — Black and White Photography, "You Should’ve Seen it in Color" (Focus, Spring 2015)
• Gold: Lariat Staff — Newsletters/Tabloids/Newspapers 8.5x11 or larger, "Aug. 24, 2015: Welcome Back"
• Silver: Lariat Staff — Newsletters/Tabloids/Newspapers 8.5x11 or larger, "Sept. 24, 2015: Get to know Giuliani"
• Silver: Stephen Nunnelee — Color Photography/Athletics, "Quarterback suffers concussion"
In addition, the Society of Professional Journalists awarded Lariat student journalists 12 Mark of Excellence Awards. Students won in categories including news photography, sports photography, feature photography, television reporting, news writing, column writing and editorial cartooning.
The first place winners were Richard Hirst — Photo Illustration, "One bloody weekend," and Taylor Griffin and Trey Gregory — Breaking News Reporting, "Baylor yanks Bill Cosby’s honorary degree."
Other top three finalists are as follows:
• Jessica Babb — Television Feature Reporting, "Baylor spirit squads"
• Jessica Babb & Thomas Mott — Television Breaking News Reporting, "Biker rally bomb threat"
• Sarah Pyo — Sports Photography, "Horsecollar penalty"
• Richard Hirst — General News Photography, "Crawling to victory"
• Shehan Jeyarajah — Online Sports Reporting, "Baylor loses Cotton Bowl"
• Rae Jefferson and Shehan Jeyarajah — General Column Writing, "Violence has no place in the light," "Casual hookups," "Immigrant dream"
• Trey Honeycutt — Feature Photography, "Labour of Love"
• Asher Freeman Murphy — Editorial Cartooning, "Spanish campaign website," "American Civil Disagreemtn [sic]," "Diverse emojis"
• Taylor Griffin and Hannah Neumann — Best Student Magazine, "Focus Magazine Spring 2015: Deep in the Heart"
• 2015 Lariat Staff, Editors Linda Wilkins and Taylor Griffin — Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper, "2015: March 6, Oct. 9, Dec. 4"
by Jenna Press, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.