Yellow Jacket Applause
The Yellow Jacket newspaper, a student-run news publication at Waynesburg University in Greene County, earned a record number of awards from two prestigious journalism organizations. For the year 2016, The Yellow Jacket accrued 16 awards, breaking the previous year’s record of nine.
Between staff, group and individual awards, the newspaper was named a finalist for 11 awards from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). The Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association awarded the Yellow Jacket a total of five awards, announcing one first place award, one second place award, and three honorable mentions for Waynesburg.
Seven Yellow Jacket staff members were named SPJ Mark of Excellence finalists among small schools under 10,000 students in general news, in-depth reporting, sports writing, feature writing and others for a total of 10 awards.
The Yellow Jacket was also named a finalist for the Best All-Around Non-Daily Newspaper award, which assesses newspapers regardless of school size.
“Any time a student wins an award from SPJ, it’s a reminder that the curriculum and program we have for journalism students at Waynesburg is really preparing students for the real world,” said Dr. Brandon Szuminsky, faculty advisor and instructor of communication.
Finalists were selected from across SPJ Region 4, which includes Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania. A group of students will travel to the SPJ Region 4 Spring Conference in Detroit to learn how the newspaper placed. First-place winners will move on to the national competition.
“We set a record last year with five SPJ awards, two of them being first place,” said Kimmi Baston, executive editor. “Even before finding out our placement, to have surpassed our record by so much is such an amazing accomplishment for the entire Yellow Jacket staff.
In addition, the Yellow Jacket received five Student Keystone Press awards from the PNA in Division II, which includes four-year colleges and universities with enrollment under 10,000.
In the general news category, senior Jacob Meyer earned second place for his story “Thomas More women’s basketball stripped of 2014-15 title.” Senior Kyle Dawson earned first place in the sports story category for his story “From fringe to spotlight.”
The Yellow Jacket earned honorable mentions in general news (“Dreams will live on” by senior Kimmi Baston), ongoing news coverage (“Community addresses ongoing drug use and overdose problem” by Baston, sophomores Teghan Simoton and Mattie Winowitch and 2016 graduate Anthony Conn) and sports story (“NCAA sanctions baseball team for practice violations” by Baston).
The Student Keystone Press Awards contest recognizes high school and college journalism that provides relevance, integrity and initiative in serving readers.