Alestle Wins Eight Illinois College Media Awards
The Alestle took home eight awards at the annual Illinois College Press Association Conference (ICPA). The student-driven publication earned two first place awards, placed in five other categories and earned one honorable mention in the competition with 35 Illinois colleges and universities.
The Alestle competed in 17 categories against 12 non-daily student newspapers on campuses with more than 4,000 students including Columbia College in Chicago, Loyola University, University of Illinois-Springfield, DePaul University and others. More than 1,200 entries in the competition were judged for excellence by working journalists across the country.
“This year, our photography and design work showed well in competition,” said Alestle Program Director Tammy Merrett. “We are also quite proud of our campus coverage recognized by the IPCA.”
Former Alestle Photo Editor Brian Munoz was awarded first place in the large-school division in spot news photograph category for coverage of protests in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Former photographer Grace Tierney won first place in the feature photograph category.
The Alestle staff also received second place in the large-school news writing category for coverage of a unity march on SIUE’s campus. Editor-in-Chief Caitlin Lally and Munoz won the second place honors in the photo essay competition for their coverage of Bosnian immigrants in the metro area. Lally also brought home an honorable mention for feature page design in the large-school division for her work on “Metro East Eats: Cupcakes.”
Cartoonist Nicole Patton won third place in the open division’s editorial cartooning category. All schools, regardless of size, were able to enter their work in that category. Photographer Lashai Spencer took third place in the large-school sports photography category.
The Alestle competes nationally against many other newspapers from across the country. Statewide, The Alestle competes regularly against such newspapers and schools as the Bradley Scout at Bradley University, Chicago Weekly at the University of Chicago, the Columbia Chronicle at Columbia College in Chicago, DePaulia at DePaul University, the Chicago Flame at the University of Illinois-Chicago, The Journal at University of Illinois-Springfield, the Loyola Phoenix at Loyola University and The Independent at Northeastern Illinois University.
