The Eagle' wins eighth straight Best Overall Newspaper

The staff entered 26 of 35 categories in NCMA’s print and online competition, and earned 12 first places, nine second places, and eight third places.

“I already feel that we have a great staff,” said Shannon Schneider, managing editor. “But winning these awards proves it.”

“The Doane Owl,” Doane University, finished second in the Best Overall Newspaper category, while “The Antelope” of the University of Nebraska-Kearney finished third.

The judges who are working media professionals based outside Nebraska, evaluated student journalists’ work published between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2018.

“I think coming off spring (2018) semester, we knew we had a lot to work on, and we were committed to improving,” former co-editor Torri Brumbaugh said. “As a young staff, we tried new things and simply tried to put out a great newspaper every week. It’s rewarding to know it paid off.”

Brumbaugh served as editor in spring 2018 and was co-editor with Krystal Kesselring in fall 2018. Both graduated in December 2018.

Kesselring took first in Best Feature Photo and third in Best Sports News Photo.

“We put in a lot of hard work and dedication,” Kesselring said. “It feels nice to pull together as a team to win this award.”

“The Eagle’s” videographer Gregg Peterson of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, took first and second in Best Multimedia Sports Story and Best Multimedia Feature Story.  

In the website competition, Wayne State College’s thewaynestater.com, captured Best Overall, while unkantelope.com took second, and cunesower.com of Concordia University finished third.

“There’s no doubt we know journalism, and know how to do it,” said “The Eagle’s” adviser Michael D. Kennedy. “The evidence is in ‘The Eagle’s’ consistent performance in the print competition. But based on our performance in the website categories, we still have room, lots of room, for improvement.”

Individually, sports editor Brandon Davenport of Chadron, earned four first-place awards: One each for Best Sports News Photo and Best Sports Feature Photo, and a first for Best Newspaper Spread.

Davenport teamed up with Devin Fulton of Glenrock, Wyoming, to win Best Sports Game Story.

In addition to Best Overall Newspaper, “The Eagle” won staff awards for Best Overall Design and Best News Package.  

Placings

Overall Newspaper: 1, “The Eagle” staff

Overall Design: 1, “The Eagle” staff

Arts and Entertainment Story: 1, Brianna Wilson

Breaking News Story: 3, Brandon Davenport

Editorial: 2, Brandon Davenport

Feature Photo: 1, Krystal Kesselring, 2, Torri Brumbaugh

Feature Story: 3, Torri Brumbaugh

Front Page: 2, Krystal Kesselring, 3, Brandon Davenport

General News Photo: 1, Torri Brumbaugh, 3, Krystal Kesselring

General News Story: 3, Shannon Schneider

Investigative Story: 2, “The Eagle” staff

Multimedia Feature Story: 1 and 2, Gregg Peterson

News Package: 1, “The Eagle” staff

Newspaper Spread: 1, Brandon Davenport, 2, Krystal Kesselring

Profile: 3, Torri Brumbaugh

Social Media Presence: 2, “The Eagle”

Sports Feature: 3, Samantha Persinger

Sports Feature Photo: 1, Brandon Davenport

Sports Investigative Story: 2, Brandon Davenport

Sports Multimedia Story: 1 and 2, Gregg Peterson

Sports News Photo: 1, Brandon Davenport, 3, Krystal Kesselring

Sports Reporting/Writing: 1, Brandon Davenport and Devin Fulton