Eagle newspaper hosting state media association conference

The Eagle, CSC’s weekly student newspaper, is hosting the event for the first time in roughly 20 years as a member of the NCMA. Students and advisers from at least five Nebraska colleges and universities are planning to attend.

The conference at the Student Center will feature two journalists from Afghanistan as keynote speakers for the NCMA’s Golden Leaf Awards, the association’s annual student media competition for student reporting, editing, photography and design work in print, radio, television and Web.

The speakers from Afghanistan, who are employed by Pajhwok Afghan News in Kabul, are Javed Hamim Kakar, senior regional and international editor, and Zainab Mohammadi, senior reporter. According to its Web site, PAN is Afghanistan’s leading independent news agency and provides photo and news services to print and broadcast news outlets in three languages – English, Dari and Pashtu.

The public is invited to a presentation by Kakar and Mohammadi, 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, April 20, in the CSC Student Center Ballroom. Admission is free. The journalists will speak about their country and the stories they and their colleagues cover. Mohammadi also will discuss what she perceives are cultural misconceptions the United States has about Afghan women and their role in their society.  

The awards ceremony begins with a banquet at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 24. It will feature Kakar and Mohammadi and culminate with the Golden Leaf Awards.

The conference workshop faculty are Judge Brian C. Silverman of Nebraska’s 12th District Court, speaking about relationships between the media and the courts; Marnie Herrmann, senior vice president and director of marketing for Security First Bank at Rapid City, S.D., speaking about professionalism in advertising and meeting clients’ needs; Steve Frederick, editor of the Scottsbluff Star-Herald, addressing the role of newspapers today and the expectations editors have of journalism graduates; and Macradee Aegerter, news director of KGWN-TV 5 at Cheyenne, Wyo., talking about packaging the news for broadcast and Web media.

“To secure such a fine lineup of seminar faculty and guest speakers for our first time as hosts of the NCMA conference is a real coup for The Eagle and Chadron State College,” said Michael D. Kennedy, CSC journalism instructor and adviser of The Eagle. “Without question, none of this would be possible without tremendous support up and down the line from the college’s administration. I would be remiss if I did not mention that, and the support we received from the entire campus community.”

Kakar and Mohammadi will arrive Saturday, April 17, and make public appearances in Chadron and the region, including visits to classes at Black Hills State University at Spearfish, S.D., on Monday, April 19, and Western Nebraska Community College at Scottsbluff on Thursday, April 22. 

Kennedy said the NCMA conference and Golden Leaf Awards are for the students who make up the association and acknowledged the work The Eagle student staff performed to help produce the conference.

Students attending the conference may participate in any of the four, 75-minute sessions Saturday, April 24. Silverman and Herrmann will begin their sessions at 8:30 a.m. The sessions led by Frederick and Aegerter begin at 10 a.m. 

In the Golden Leaf Awards, eligible students from NCMA-member schools compete in categories for newspaper, radio, television and Web site. The NCMA also recognizes the best overall media outlet in each division by using a point system based on individual awards.

Last year in the newspaper division’s Best Overall Newspaper category, The Eagle finished second with 17 points behind The Wayne Stater of Wayne State College which tallied 19 points. The Doane Owl of Doane College finished third with 10 points.

This year, in addition to competing in the newspaper division, The Eagle entered the Web site competition with its recently-launched csceagle.com.