The Beacon has won First Place for General Excellence among weekly college newspapers in the annual statewide collegiate media competition of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association.
This was just one of 25 awards The Beacon staff took home from the conference. Unfortunately, the event took place one week after UP’s graduation, so much of our staff had already scattered to their family homes, many out-of-state. Beacon MVP Shellie Adams literally had her hands full as the only staffer who was able to attend.
Shellie Adams, Beacon Design Editor and 2014 MVP at the ONPA awards luncheon
Here’s a complete list of ONPA awards The Beacon won:
First Place
- General Excellence- Beacon Staff
- Website www.upbeacon.com – Kelsey Thomas, John Liedtke
- News Story- “Trouble in the Air” by Lauria Frazier
- Series- Chiles Incident coverage and editorial by Lydia Laythe, Philip Ellefson. Assist by Sarah Hansell and Kelsey Thomas
- Feature Story-“Nothing to Rave About” by Megan Lester with assist by Sarah Hansell, Emily Strocher
- Spot News Photo- “Pilot Spirit (Eric Reveno) in a Kilt” by David Diloreto
- Feature Photo-“Squirrel steals an Easter Egg” by Jackie Jeffers
- (overall) Photography- Becca Tabor
- Best Graphic- “Syria 101” by Shellie Adams and Nastacia Voisin
- House Ad-“This could be you” by Emily Strocher
Second Place
- Best Section-Sarah Hansell, Megan Lester, Olivia Alsept-Ellis, Lydia Laythe
- Special Section- “Student Media Jobs Guide” by Shellie Adams and Kelsey Thomas
- Writing-“Don’t Get An Internship, “Remember Them,” and “Have Faith in the Harry Potter Generation” by Kate Stringer
- Columnist- Kate Stringer
- Sports Story- “Selfless, Touch, Compassionate” by Peter Gallagher
- Best Graphic-“Do you know your new laws?” by Emily Strocher, Lydia Laythe
- Best Cartooning- Ann Truong
Third Place
- News Story- “Chiles Incident Sparks Outrage, Dialogue” by Lydia Laythe w/assist from Kelsey Thomas and Sarah Hansell
- Design- Shellie Adams
- Series- Redefine Purple Pride, Nondiscrimination Clause coverage by Philip Ellefson, Nastacia Voisin, Kelsey Thomas
- Review- “Oregon Shakespeare Festival” by Olivia Alsept-Ellis
- Sports Photo- “Pilot spirit (Coach Eric Reveno) in a Kilt by David Diloreto
- Feature Photo- “Irish Dancing: Almost Like Flying” by Becca Tabor
- (overall) Photography- David Diloreto
- Cartooning- Ann Truong
The Beacon competed in the category of “Four-year college or university non-daily newspaper.” Entries were judged by professional newspaper journalists from ONPA member media companies.
Shellie and I also attended some valuable presentations before the awards luncheon:
1) Willamette Week Managing Editor for News Brent Walth: “Great stories are about people…provide context and perspective.”
2) Les Zaitz, Pulitzer Prize finalist and investigative reporter at The Oregonian: “If you ask general questions, you’ll get general answers.”
Pulitzer Prize finalist and investigative reporter for The Oregonian Les Zaitz shows how he “connects the dots” in his investigative reporting.
3) Jordan Tichenor and Chelsea Wicks, editors from the University of Oregon’s Daily Emerald shared their behind-the-scenes stories about major stories the Emerald has covered this year including the viral “Snow Brawl” video and
the ongoing coverage of rape accusations against three UO basketball players.
-Nancy Copic, Adviser to The Beacon
UP Beacon staff blog 