Arrow Named Top Missouri Division I College Newspaper at MCMA Conference
04/13/2017

The Arrow, the student newspaper of Southeast Missouri State University, was honored with the Best Overall Newspaper award among Division I schools at the Missouri College Media Association (MCMA) Conference over the weekend at Missouri Western University in St. Joseph, Missouri, In total, the Arrow brought home 16 awards, including six first-place, five second-place and one third-place finishes, and four honorable mentions. “I'm always excited to see our students' efforts recognized, but as the smallest school in our division, it's especially nice to win the Best Overall award,” said Dr. Tamara Zellers Buck, faculty advisor to the Arrow and multimedia journalism coordinator in Southeast’s Department of Mass Media. “This recognition is proof for faculty, staff and students that we're giving our students everything they need to excel in the professional world. Our journalism option's profile is rising on the state level, and that is largely due to the Arrow’s success in recent years. Each award helps to demonstrate the curriculum is working.” The Arrow won the first-place award for Best Overall Newspaper, finishing ahead of student newspapers at Lindenwood University, Missouri State University, Saint Louis University, University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Missouri-St. Louis, University of Central Missouri and Washington University. The Arrow also took the top two places in the “Campus Engagement/Promotions” category of the advertising division, of which all 33 Missouri schools were eligible to compete. The awards recognized student work promoting the Arrow’s Pumpkin Chuckin’ event and its election 2016 coverage. “It's nice to have the Arrow staff recognized for our hard work,” said Breanne Bleichroth, Arrow editor. “We couldn't have done it without every writer, photographer, designer or adviser on the team. We especially have to thank the University for its continued support and our previous editor, Jay Forness, for guiding and helping us learn.” In addition to the awards, Arrow News Editor Katelyn Mary Skaggs was elected MCMA president for the 2017-2018 academic year. As president, Skaggs will be responsible for coordinating next year's contest and conference, which will be held at Lindenwood University. “It is an incredible honor to be elected as the President of Missouri College Media Association,” Skaggs said. “This will be the third year in a row a Southeast student has held an officer position for MCMA, and I excited to be one of the three. “This coming year I will be able to work alongside amazing journalism students from across the state to organize the upcoming conference,” she added. “The MCMA conference has so much to offer student journalists, and this year's conference was well planned. I am already started planning a few things for next year's conference, including having an official hashtag for the conference.” MCMA awards presented to the Arrow were:
  • First place, Best Overall Newspaper, Division I (Staff)
  • First place, Campus Engagement and Promotions, Advertising Division (Staff)
  • First Place, Feature Page, Division I (Malana Bradford and Bridgt Bingham)
  • First Place, Photo Page, Division I (Staff)
  • First Place, Special Section or Supplement, Division I (Staff)
  • First Place, Video, Division I (Justin Fischer)
  • Second place, Campus Engagement and Promotions, Advertising Division (Staff)
  • Second Place, Feature Writing, Division I (Malana Bradford)
  • Second Place, Information Graphic, Division I (Jordyn Aden and Olivia Moyers)
  • Second Place, Special Section or Supplement, Division I (Staff)
  • Second Place, Website, Division I (Kara Hartnett)
  • Third Place, Page One Design, Division I (Stone Selsor)
  • Honorable Mention, Advertising Design, Advertising Division  (Olivia Moyers)
  • Honorable Mention, Advertising Design, Advertising Division (Tony Exler)
  • Honorable Mention, Feature Photography, Division I (Jegenaath Giri)
  • Honorable Mention, Information Graphic, Division I (Olivia Moyers)