SFA students earn statewide recognition at college media conference

Students working for Stephen F. Austin State University’s campus media outlets were recognized with a combined 46 awards for journalistic excellence at the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association’s annual convention and competition earlier this month in Dallas.

The Pine Log, SFA’s student newspaper, earned 20 awards for content produced during the 2016 calendar year, while the Stone Fort yearbook received 17 separate honors for its 2016 edition. In addition, SFA TV-2 was recognized with four awards for previously published content, while KSAU radio received one award. In the previously published contests, SFA students compete against their peers at institutions with similar enrollment and program size.

Eleven SFA students attended the conference and participated in on-site contests where they competed head-to-head with journalism students from other TIPA member institutions, regardless of size. In these “live” events, four awards were presented to SFA students, including Tyler Fisher, Stone Fort yearbook editor-in-chief and The Pine Log ad manager, first place in yearbook design and third place in print advertising design; Joanna Armstrong, The Pine Log editor-in-chief, second place in feature writing; and Cynthia Cogan, The Pine Log webmaster and social media manager, honorable mention in public relations crisis management.

In addition, Parastoo Nikravesh, managing editor for The Pine Log, received TIPA’s prestigious Jeff Henderson Scholarship for Journalism Excellence, which is awarded annually during the conference.

“The TIPA convention and competition is an opportunity to showcase the work our talented mass communication students produce throughout the year as they are gaining real-world experience contributing to our on-campus media outlets,” said Amy Roquemore, SFA director of student publications and divisional media and adjunct faculty member in the mass communication department. Roquemore accompanied the students to the convention along with Rachel Clark, SFA student publications coordinator and yearbook advisor.

“As is their tradition, our students represented the university extremely well, not only with impressive submissions for the canned competition but also with award-winning work they produced under deadline pressure in the highly competitive live contests,” Roquemore said. “These accolades are a testament to the skill and determination of SFA students preparing to enter the mass communication field, and it is a joy and privilege to work with them every day.”

Fisher, a senior mass communication major from Spring, attended the conference for the second consecutive year, and said it was exciting to see SFA student media recognized as being among the best in Texas. Fisher will graduate in May and has been accepted into the university’s Master of Business Administration program beginning this fall.

“I find a lot of joy being able to represent SFA and competing in something I love,” Fisher said. “I am so proud of myself and my peers for all of the hard work we do to represent SFA in the best light possible. I think bringing home this many awards really shows how passionate we are about our jobs and making our school proud.”

Established in 1909 at Baylor University, TIPA is the largest and oldest collegiate press association in the U.S. The organization works to recognize excellence in campus media and open channels of communication and cooperation among student media programs at two- and four-year colleges and universities in Texas. More than 440 students representing 45 of TIPA’s more than 50 member institutions attended the 2017 conference in Dallas.

The following is a complete listing of TIPA awards SFA students earned for work produced during the 2016 calendar year:

The Pine Log

First place, sports news story — Devin Brooks, sports editor

First place, headline — Taylor Raglin, editor-in-chief

First place, editorial cartoon — Olivia Boan, illustrator

Second place, sports page design — Devin Brooks, sports editor

Second place, sports column — Devin Brooks, sports editor

Second place, special edition/section — staff members

Second place, page one design — Joanna Armstrong, editor-in-chief

Second place, editorial — Anna Clarke, opinions editor

Third place, advertising design — Olivia Boan, designer

Third place, sports action photo — Cara Campbell, photographer

Third place, sports feature photo — Derek Hall, photographer

Third place, news photo — Jackie Conde, photo editor

Third place, picture story — Hannah Russell and Cara Campbell, photographers

Third place, news feature story — Joanna Armstrong, news editor

Honorable Mention, single subject presentation design — Taylor Raglin, editor-in-chief

Honorable Mention, news story — Joanna Armstrong, news editor

Honorable Mention, opinion/editorial page design — Anna Clarke, opinions editor

Honorable Mention, headline — Devin Brooks, sports editor

Honorable Mention, feature photo — Audra Bridges, photographer

Honorable Mention, advertising design — Tyler Fisher, designer

Stone Fort

Second place, sports action photo — Jacy Watson, photographer

Second place, sports copy — Belen Casillas, writer

Third place, information graphic — Tyler Fisher, section editor

Third place, organizations package — Stephanie Branch, section editor

Honorable mention, sports copy — Juwan Lee, writer

Honorable mention, sports package — Cara Campbell, Carley Carpenter, Jackie Conde, Julia Irwin, Taylor Raglin, Rae Thompson and Hannah Russell, writers/photographers

Honorable mention, student life copy — Parastoo Nikravesh, writer

Honorable mention, title page — Julia Irwin, editor-in-chief

Honorable mention, photo story — Tyler Fisher, Delilah Gonzalez, Whitney Hicks and Hannah Russell, writers/photographers

Honorable mention, opening spread — Julia Irwin, editor-in-chief

Honorable mention, organizations copy — Tyler Fisher, section editor

Honorable mention, cover design — Julia Irwin, editor-in-chief

Honorable mention, end sheets — Julia Irwin, editor-in-chief

Honorable mention, feature/student life package — Carley Carpenter, Tyler Fisher, Derek Hall and Hannah Russell, writers/photographers

Honorable mention, academics copy — Mackenzie Tarter, section editor

Honorable mention, feature photo — Jackie Conde, photographer

Honorable mention, overall excellence — staff members

SFA TV-2

Second place, sports non-feature story — Kirby Hilderbrand, Jasper Football Stadium

Second place, sportscast — Josh Green, SFA TV-2 NacEdition

Second place, spot commercial/PSA/promo — Cami Henz, Anti-Smoking PSA

Third place, news feature story — Brooke Alverson, VW Club

KSAU

Honorable mention, spot commercial/PSA/promo — Dylan Hensley, KSAU Promo