By Matthew Muir | Staff Writer
Baylor Student Media continues to be recognized for excellence as the Baylor Lariat, Roundup Yearbook and Focus Magazine racked up numerous awards throughout the 2018 to 2019 school year.
Highlights included a first place Best of Show award from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA) for the for the March 1 issue of the Lariat covering the Shawn Oakman verdict, first place in overall excellence for Lariat TV News from TIPA in the Global News Relay, first place in overall excellence from TIPA for Focus Magazine’s Fearless issue from fall 2018 and first place in the online category from the Associated Collegiate Press for baylorlariat.com.
Baylor Student Media’s publications have earned roughly 150 awards throughout the school year so far.
Cameron Stuart, a senior communications major from Rockland, Mass.,who writes for the Lariat was awarded second place in general column writing by TIPA. He was also awarded a first place Mark of Excellence award in general column writing along with Maya Butler and Didi Martinez by the Society of Professional Journalists. Stuart is appreciative of the award and says it speaks to the strength of the Lariat as a whole.
“It is really nice to get the recognition, it’s obviously a great accomplishment. I work with a lot of great people, and I think it’s an award for the whole paper as well. I appreciate all the help they give me and the freedom they let me have,” Stuart said. “We do a really good job all the way around whether it be our news writing, opinion, editorials, all the way down to TV and radio.”
Julie Reed is the assistant media adviser for Baylor Student Media. She says that the recognition of students’ work across all of the student publications reflects positively on Baylor’s academic programs.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized by all of these different organizations,” Reed said. “What that tells me is that these students are doing such quality work that it’s getting recognized across the board, which is great as far as showing that Baylor is a top-notch journalism school.”
Reed also went on to say that the skills students learn working for student media can go on to help them in their careers, whether they choose to pursue journalism or not.
“It’s also great for them going out and getting a job. It’s showing that we are teaching them the skills that they need to go out and be professional journalists,” Reed said. “Honestly to succeed in anything that they do it’s all communication skills.”
Phoenix senior, journalism and international studies major and editor-in-chief of the Lariat Molly Atchison said the awards provide validation for the work put in by her staff.
“It really means a lot when we get such high accolades from the professionals in the field. It means that it validates us as journalists and solidifies our spot at the top of the Texas reporting field, which is a huge deal for a pretty small staff,” Atchison said.
