The Alestle Wins Three National College Journalism Competition Awards
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s The Alestle recently won five national awards during the 100th annual Associated Collegiate Press (ACP)/College Media Association (CMA) National College Media Convention. The Alestle is a student-run newspaper at SIUE, named by an acronym derived from the names of the University’s three campus locations: Alton, East St. Louis and Edwardsville.
The Alestle staff won honorable mentions in the Pinnacle Awards Best Newspaper Entertainment Page/Spread and Best Newspaper Photo Page/Spread categories. The winning entries were The Alestle’s Metro East Eats Toasted Ravioli edition and their photo coverage of Black Lives Matter protests, respectively.
Other winners in the two categories included Ball State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of California-Los Angeles, University of Texas at Arlington, Elon University and Colorado State University. The field of competitors for the Pinnacle Awards was not broken down by school size or frequency, and any member schools and their news organizations from across the country could compete in the same category.
For the first time, The Alestle was recognized in the ACP Individual Awards. Former Editor-in-Chief Madison Lammert and former Graphics Manager Summer Bradley received an honorable mention in the Informational Graphic category for an infographic in spring 2021 about the progress and regression of women’s rights.
Other winners in the ACP Individual Awards Informational Graphic category were Savannah College of Art and Design, Indiana University, Ball State University, University of Kentucky, DePaul University, California Polytechnic State University and School of the Art Institute Chicago.
The Alestle also won two Best of Show Awards during the convention, and the staff took 8th place for its digital newsletter. In the best website category for schools with more than 10,000 students, Alestlelive.com won 6th place.
“It feels great to have The Alestle’s hard work recognized on a national scale, and we hope to continue to provide the campus community with quality journalism,” Editor-in-Chief Alex Alutman said.
“The students of The Alestle are some of the hardest working people on campus, and it shows in their tireless dedication to producing an ever-improving product for the people of SIUE,” Student Publications Program Director Tammy Merrett said. “This is our first time being recognized in ACP’s individual awards competition and receiving so much recognition at the national level across the board.”
The Alestle has placed several times in recent years in the CMA Pinnacle awards, and national ACP Best of Show competitions. This is the first time The Alestle’s work has been recognized in the ACP Individual Awards. The publication is consistently an American Scholastic Press Association top-ranked publication and regularly wins several top awards in the annual Illinois College Press Association contest as well.
See the award-winning work at alestlelive.com.
