Philip Ellefson |
The Beacon won the Apple Award for Best Newspaper from the College Media Association (CMA) last week at the annual CMA convention in New York.
The Beacon won first place among all colleges and universities with fewer than 5,000 students. Other newspapers that won Apple Awards were The Eagle of American University and the University of Miami’s Hurricane.
Several Beacon editors, reporters and photographers attended the CMA conference, including Editor-in-Chief Katie Dunn, who said winning the award was a thrilling experience.
“My heart started beating really fast,” Dunn said. “It was really cool to hear them say ‘The Beacon’ in front of this room of 1,000 people.”
The Beacon has already won four other national awards and honors this year: A third place Pinnacle Award for Best Weekly College Newspaper and three Gold Circle awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.
Dunn attributes the Beacon’s successes to teamwork.
“Everyone wants The Beacon to be as great as it can be, and they take pride not just in their own story, but in the paper,” Dunn said. “Reporters like seeing their own story next to another great story.”
Nancy Copic, assistant director of student media and adviser to The Beacon, said it's great to see the students' hard work rewarded.
“Ever since I attended my first College Media convention five years ago, I've aspired for The Beacon to win the Apple Award,” Copic said. “When it actually happened, I was thrilled and a little surprised. But these students deserve it, and UP should be proud of them.”
Philip Ellefson is the news editor for The Beacon. He can be reached at ellefson15@up.edu or on Twitter @PhilipEllefson.
