The Collegiate Times was named to the Best of Show list at the National College Media Convention in Orlando, Fla.
The newspaper was ranked the 10th best four-year college broadsheet newspaper in attendance by the Associated Collegiate Press. The Daily Kent Stater took first. The publications were judged by professional journalists from the Washington, D.C. area during the convention, which took place from Oct. 26-30.
Zach Crizer, the editor in chief, and Lindsey Brookbank, the managing editor, travelled to the convention, which was held by the ACP and co-sponsored by the Newspaper Association of America Foundation. Both staffers earned national recognition for their writing.
Brookbank, a senior English and communication double major, took second place for the Reporter of the Year award, beating Harvard Crimson reporter Julie Zauzmer and falling behind The Daily Bruin reporter Matt Stevens.
For the award, Brookbank was judged based on three articles: “Missing peace: Morgan Harrington’s parents need answers,” “Forever on their minds: Kevin Lawall’s parents, siblings seek meaning in his suicide” and “Chain Reaction: Actively Caring seeks widespread impact.”
She examined Morgan Harrington’s murder, as well as Kevin Lawall’s suicide — both were students at Virginia Tech. She also dug into the story behind a nationwide pay-it-forward movement that began at Tech.
Crizer, a senior communication major, took fourth place for the Feature Story of the Year award.
The story Crizer was recognized for, “Ex-felon moves foward,” looks into the revamped life of a Tech student who was previously jailed for armed robbery.
The CT’s website, CollegiateTimes.com, was also a finalist for an Online Pacemaker award. Jamie Chung, a junior computer science major, is the CT’s online developer who designed most of the website’s features.