Amanda Smith
Lantern Staff
College student journalists from Kansas gathered in Wichita for the annual Kansas Collegiate Media (KCM) conference on Sunday, April 7 and Monday, April 8 and for Butler, both the Lantern newspaper and The Grizzly Magazine staff were in attendance. The Grizzly brought home a total of five awards while the Lantern claimed 17–all of which ranged from design, writing and photography.
Sophomore Editor-in-Chief Noah Merrell placed in two areas for the Grizzly: second place in feature design in the magazine/yearbook division and first runner-up for Journalist of the Year, which also included a cash reward. According to Grizzly Adviser Michael Swan, the latter of these awards is considered to be a huge accomplishment.
“That was big,” Swan said. “Because they’re really hard to get now, they’re harder than they used to be… You’re competing against a lot of schools.”
Freshman Co-Editor Kaylee Stout also brought home a first place certificate for feature photography with freshman Nicolas Quinones receiving an award for honorable mention in headline writing and Keandra Rovaris, an honorable mention award in the copy editing competition held on-site for all categories.
Of the Lantern’s 17 awards, Sophomore Distribution and Advertising Editor Caelin Bragg received five: first place in headlines/artistic headline design, third in news/event writing and honorable mention awards in ad design, feature photography and review writing.
“I wasn’t expecting to win as many awards as I did,” he said. “But I feel proud of the work I did, and I appreciate being recognized for the hard work I put in.”
Staff Reporter Sophia Allen won honorable mention in news/event photography and former Lantern Editor-in-Chief Tori Lemon brought home two awards, one in ad design for third place and another in column writing for honorable mention. The Lantern received a bronze award overall.
Student Sports Media also submitted articles and photos, and Taylor Garcia was awarded with an honorable mention certificate in sports/action photography. The Lantern’s Managing Editor Matthew Will brought home two honorable mention awards, one in sports news writing and one in sports/action photography.
Both days of the event consisted of multiple breakout sessions where students learned about different topics involving journalism followed by a keynote speaker, dinner and awards. Breakout sessions were presented by multiple people throughout Kansas involved in various areas of media.
Keynote speakers included Sports in Kansas Founder Chet Kuplen and Trooper Ben, a highway patrol officer known for his interactive and humorous Twitter account, which proved to be many of the attendees’ favorite part of the conference.
“I thought he was really personable when he talked and he was able to connect it back to us,” Freshman Lantern Reporter Emmie Boese said. “When I saw how well he used social media, I was able to see how I could relate to that.”