Student publications continue to shine with national awards!

Students working on the Talisman, College Heights Herald and Cherry Creative were recognized with a combined 15 awards during the National College Media Convention held in Washington, DC, Oct. 31-Nov. 3.

The Herald was recognized as a Pacemaker finalist in both the newspaper and online categories. The Herald editor-in-chief during fall 2018 and spring 2019 was Louisville senior Evan Heichelbech.

The Talisman was recognized as a magazine Pacemaker finalist. The 2018-2019 editor-in-chief was spring 2019 graduate Hannah Good from Alexandria, Kentucky.

The Pacemaker, awarded by the Associate Collegiate Press, is regarded as the nation’s highest honor for student-run publications. Talisman has received 20 Pacemakers, and the College Heights Herald has received 17.

In the Associated Collegiate Press individual awards, nine entries from WKU were recognized.

• Eubank junior Bailey Cooke placed second in Interactive Graphic Multimedia Story of the Year for “Accents across the commonwealth” published on WKUTalisman.com
• The staff of the College Heights Herald places fourth in Interactive Graphic Multimedia Story of the Year for “A detailed timeline of Snyder’s resignation” published on WKUHerald.com.
• Florence junior Ashley Oehler placed fourth in Display Advertisement of the Year for an ad for Que Buenos published in Cherry Creative’s 2019 Bowling Green dining guide.
• Spring 2019 graduates Craig Ostertag of Albany and Andrew Lee of Owensboro placed fourth in the Advertisement Brochure/Rate Card Advertisement of the Year category for the 2018-19 WKU Student Publications media kit.
• Louisville junior Laurel Deppen placed fifth in Feature Story of the Year for “WKU student details life as aide for George H.W. Bush” published in the Herald.
• Bowling Green senior Phi Chu received honorable mention in Feature Story of the Year for “Tending to death” published in Talisman magazine issue six.
• Louisville senior Brandon Edwards received honorable mention in Newspaper Front Page Design of the Year for the Nov. 12, 2018 Herald.
• Louisville senior Braden VanMeter and Naperville, Illinois, junior Chris Kohley received honorable mention in Magazine Cover Design of the Year for the sixth issue of Talisman magazine.
• VanMeter also received honorable mention in Magazine Page/Spread Design of the Year for “Death do us part” published in Talisman magazine issue six.

In the College Media Association Pinnacle Awards, three entries from WKU were recognized.

• Silver Spring, Maryland, sophomore Sam Mallon and Nolensville, Tennessee, senior Emily Moses placed first in Best Online Infographic for “A guide to eating at WKU with dietary restrictions” published on WKUTalisman.com.
• Naperville, Ill., junior Chris Kohley placed first in Best Sports Feature Photo for a photo published in Talisman magazine issue five.
• Cherry Creative received honorable mention in Best Ad Supplement/Special Section for Best of the Hill.

In the Associated Collegiate Press Best of Show competition, Cherry Creative placed second in Newspaper Special Section (Advertising) for View of the Hill. Bowling Green junior JB Carter designed the magazine.

Six Herald, Talisman or Cherry Creative students attended the conference: Versailles senior Rebekah Alvey, Bowling Green sophomore Lily Burris, Louisville junior Annalee Hubbs, Georgetown senior Hayley Robb, Bowling Green junior Emma Spainhoward and Russellville freshman Matthew Williams.

Chuck Clark, the director of Student Publications, and Sam Oldenburg, the adviser to Talisman and Cherry Creative also attended the conference. Clark is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press board of directors and presented in a panel session on building alumni support. Oldenburg presented two sessions during the conference, “Photo editing: more than meets the eye” and “Get your head in the game: Sports photography tips.

Kentucky Kernel captures Pacemaker Award again

Kentucky Kernel staff members past and present are all smiles displaying their awards for the conventi

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 6, 2019) — Founded in 1908 and independent since 1972, the Kentucky Kernel is the nonprofit, student-run newspaper for the University of Kentucky. The Kernel was recently awarded the 2019 Pacemaker Award for having one of the best student newspapers in the country. The award ceremony took place at the College Media Association and Associated Collegiate Press convention Nov. 2 in Washington, D.C.

“Hearing our name called as a Pacemaker winner was so exciting,” said Bailey Vandiver, 2018-19 editor-in-chief for the Kernel, the academic year for which the paper was judged. “While winning awards is not our primary goal as student journalists, it’s always great to get this kind of recognition because it means we’re doing the kind of really good journalism that we aim to do.”

Each year, the National Scholastic Press Association presents scholastic journalism’s preeminent award, the Pacemaker. There is a category for each type of publication — online, newspaper, yearbook, magazine and broadcast. Entries are judged by teams of professionals based on the following criteria: coverage and content, quality of writing and reporting, leadership, design, photography and graphics.

Last September the Kernel was named one of 46 finalists, out of the 160 college newspapers that entered the competition. This past week, they were named one of the 19 award winners — giving them their first Pacemaker win since 2016.

“I think winning this award goes to show what we’ve already known: That we have one of the best collegiate newsrooms in the country, and we continue to try to strive for excellence each and every day,” said Ryan Craig, the student media advisor for the Kernel.

“Winning this Pacemaker further legitimizes the Kernel’s role as our campus watchdog and voice,” said Rick Childress, the 2019-20 editor-in-chief for the Kernel. “We’re working hard to bring home another one next year.”

Along with winning the coveted Pacemaker Award, the Kernel staff received a number of individual awards. A full list of individual awards is below.

College Media Association Pinnacle Awards

• Honorable Mention in Best Editorial Illustration: Samuel Meyers
• Third Place in Best Magazine Entertainment Page/Spread: Jillian Jones, KRNL Spring 2019
• Third Place in Best Newspaper Photo Page/Spread: Arden Barnes
• Second Place in Best Yearbook Division Page/Spread: Autumn Hassell, Year in Photos 2018-19
• Honorable Mention in Best Multimedia Feature Story: Sarah Ladd and Arden Barnes
• Honorable Mention in Viral Video: Sarah Ladd
• Third Place in Best General News Photo: Arden Barnes
• First Place in Best Photo Package: Arden Barnes
• Third Place in Best Portrait: Michael Clubb
• Second Place in Best Sports News Photo: Jordan Prather
• Third Place in Best Online Sports Section
• Second Place in Best Arts and Entertainment Story: Bailey Vandiver
• Honorable Mention in Best Online Ad
• Second Place for Best Ad Supplement/Special Supplement: Inside UK
• Honorable Mention in Four-Year Feature Magazine of the Year: KRNL Spring 2019

Associated Collegiate Press Awards

• Pacemaker Winner 2019
• Third Place in In-Depth News Story: Rick Childress
• Honorable Mention in Feature Story: Jacob Eads
• First Place in Photo Slideshow: Michael Clubb
• Honorable Mention in Interactive Graphic: Arden Barnes
• Honorable Mention in Yearbook Cover: Autumn Hassell, Year in Photos 2018-19
• Honorable Mention in Yearbook Page/Spread: Autumn Hassell, Year in Photos 2018-19
• Fourth Place in Sports Photo: Jordan Prather
• Fifth Place in Sports Photo: Michael Clubb
• Honorable Mention in Advertising Campaign: Rob Fischer

Associated Collegiate Press Best of Show Awards

• Eighth Place in Feature Magazine: KRNL Fall 2019
• Sixth Place in Yearbook (1-299 Pages): Year in Photos 2018-19
• Sixth Place in Newspaper Special Section Advertising: Inside UK
• Ninth Place in Newspaper (Four-year campus, weekly)

Former EIC of The Murray State News wins ACP Pacemaker Award

Blake Sandlin

Blake Sandlin, senior at Murray State University and former editor-in-chief of The Murray State News, won a fifth place Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker Award for Sports Feature Story of the Year.

The award, which is the Pulitzer Prize in collegiate journalism, was given out at the National College Media Convention Nov. 2 in Washington D.C.

Sandlin’s story: Making Morant: Ja Morant’s ascent from small town kid to big stage star, can be read here. The story chronicles Morant’s small town life in Dalzell, South Carolina, the hours spent perfecting his game with his father, Tee, how he would perform Michael Jackson songs to entertain his family at a young age and the story behind how the former Racer was accidentally discovered by a Murray State assistant coach.

Sandlin interviewed several of Ja’s family members and former basketball coaches to be able to write about the personal side of the No. 2 overall NBA draft pick, a side many people don’t often see.

“Ja Morant is arguably one of the best basketball players to ever come out of Murray State, which brought national media attention to our small regional university here in western Kentucky,” Stephanie Anderson,The Murray State News adviser said. “Blake did an outstanding job capturing the true story of Ja Morant, something many news organizations were unable to do. I am incredibly proud of him and believe he truly deserved to win this award.”

Sandlin is currently working full-time as a sports reporter at WPSD Local 6, the NBC affiliate in Paducah, Kentucky, as well as finishing his journalism degree at Murray State. He will graduate in May 2020.

“It was surreal to see how well my story performed at ACP this year,” Sandlin said. “Reading the other pieces from the nine other finalists, there were some really thorough and compelling feature stories from students at heralded journalism schools, so to be able to represent a smaller school in Murray State gave me a lot of pride.”

With Morant currently playing for the Memphis Grizzlies, just three hours down the road, Sandlin is still able to cover the small town stand out, but this time on the nation’s biggest stage.