From Staff Reporters
The Northwestern News picked up numerous awards during the summer, earning enough points to rank as the state’s second best collegiate newspaper.
The News and its staffers won 15 awards during the Oklahoma Press Association’s 2022 Better Newspaper Contest. The awards were handed out June 11 in Oklahoma City.
The News won first place overall in photography and had six individual first-place awards. The winners are:
• Former Photo Editor Devyn Lansden, a 2022 mass communication graduate from Beaver, who won the award for Best News Photograph;
• Editor-in-Chief Jordan Green, a mass communication senior from Blackwell, and Lansden, who won the award for Best Photo Essay/Picture Page;
• Kaylea Brown, a 2022 mass communication graduate from Terlton; Laney Cook, a 2022 mass communication graduate from Marshall; and Lansden won the award for Best In-Depth Reporting and Best Business Story;
• David Thornton, a May 2021 graduate, and Green won the award for Best Education Story;
• Green won first place for Best Column Writing.
The News placed second overall in sports coverage and editorial writing, and the paper placed third overall in news content and layout/design.
Second place individual awards went to:
• Sports Editor Cade Kennedy, a mass communication sophomore from Alva, who won the award for Best Sports Story;
• Green won the award for Best Feature Photograph;
• Lansden won the awards for Best Sports Photograph and Photo Essay/Picture Page.
The award-winning pieces were published in 2021, per contest guidelines, and competed against other collegiate newspapers from across the state.
The News scored 360 points overall, just 20 points shy of winning the Sequoyah Award, one of the highest honors in Oklahoma journalism. It went to the Collegian at Cameron University. The O’Colly at Oklahoma State University came in third with 240 points.
The OPA wins came just weeks after the campus newspaper was named the Best Overall Newspaper in its division during the Oklahoma Collegiate Media Association’s annual awards competition, where the News took home more than 20 awards.
“I am incredibly proud of the outstanding work this team does,” Green said. “Time and time again, we’ve shown the Ranger community just how important this newspaper is, and we continue to serve our university with the highest caliber of responsible, powerful, meaningful journalism. We don’t put out a newspaper to win awards, but having our hard work recognized means a lot.”
Dr. Kaylene Armstrong, the Northwestern News adviser, said the students have continued to produce high-quality journalism, as reflected by this year’s winnings.
“It’s great that the Oklahoma Press Association recognized the incredible work of the Northwestern News staff this year,” Armstrong said. “I have been most fortunate to work with these fine students.”