Student journalists earn press honors

The Eagle newspaper’s extra edition about the 2006 Chadron State football team, “A Season to Remember,” won first place among the contest’s special section entries. Students contributing to the effort included Daniel Binkard of Ponca, Deann Stearns of Edgemont, S.D., Megan Horn of Billings, Mont., Ryan Mumm of Tryon, Danielle Hencey of Chadron and Nat Watkins of Alliance.

Binkard, who was editor last fall, also claimed second place for his two-page spread about the wildfire that threatened the Chadron State campus during July 2006.

Journalists from the Eagle also had three third-place honors -- John “Buddha” Delle of Chadron with a photo essay about Arbor Day, Lauren Smith of Ogallala with a feature about a terminally ill professor, and Binkard’s news photo of a Reserve Officers Training Corps drill. Smith’s story also appeared in the Chadron Record and earned third place among class C weeklies in the Nebraska Press Association’s Better Newspapers Contest for community publications. Awards for both contests were presented Saturday, April 21, at the NPA’s annual convention in Lincoln.

Several former Eagle staff members also earned NPA honors. They include Jerry Purvis of the Gering Courier, second in sports writing for class B weekly newspapers, and Kirt Manion of the Nebraska City News-Press, third in sports writing for class C weeklies. Melissa Smith of Alliance was among the team of Scottsbluff Star-Herald reporters that was third in news writing among dailies for its coverage of northwest Nebraska’s wildfires.

Another former Eagle editor, Heather Beebout of North Platte, was honored in April by the Nebraska Associated Press Broadcasters Association. Beebout, who is the news director at North Platte’s KELN-KOOQ, earned honorable mention in best newscast and second place in the Web site category. The station also earned the prestigious Mark Twain Award, which is given annually to a station for outstanding contributions to the Associated Press wire.