Georgia College’s student newspaper celebrates six years as No. 1

Milledgeville, Ga. – Georgia College’s student newspaper, The Colonnade, was recognized as the best newspaper in its division for the sixth consecutive year by the Georgia College Press Association at the annual Better Newspaper Contest in Athens, Ga., Feb. 5.

“We were definitely excited for GCPA, but we were also nervous to see how this year’s staff stacked up against other schools across the state,” said editor-in-chief Matt Chambers. “I’d be lying if I said we didn’t have butterflies in our stomachs come reward time.”

But his staff’s hard work was rewarded as The Colonnade beat out Piedmont College and Augusta State for the most coveted category of General Excellence. Other general categories in which the paper took first: Improvement, General Photography Excellence, Layout and Design, Advertising Excellence ,Best Campus Community Service-News, and Best Campus Community Service–Sports. The Colonnade also earned second place for Best Campus Community Service- Editorial and third place for Best Campus Community Service-Features.

Georgia College is classified as a Division B university in these general categories and competes against four-year colleges with enrollment less than 7,000. Division B includes Berry College, Augusta State University, Macon State College, Clayton State University, Piedmont College and Young Harris College.

The staff discovered that size doesn’t always matter. The Colonnade held its own even against schools like Georgia Tech, Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia State University, Georgia Southern University and Emory University in individual categories, which are among all four-year member universities.

Allison Bramlett’s article “GCSU braces for budget cuts” took second place for Best News Article Based on Investigative Reporting. Sports editor Scotty Thompson took third place for Best Sports Story for “International athletes continue influence.”

Chelsea Thomas, a senior mass communication major, beat out Georgia Southern for Best Feature Photograph in her work in “Shapes, shadows and skin,” an article about nude models in art classes.

“I have always been either a reporter or an editor for The Colonnade, so it was nice to have received an award for another area of journalism,” says Thomas. “I feel privileged to have been nominated in light of so many other great photographers.”

Two other students were recognized for their photography skills. Underclassman Charmaine Tesina earned second place for Best News photograph and photo editor Drake Simons took third place for Best Sports Photograph.

“I was excited to hear of all the GCPA awards that The Colonnade was nominated for,” said Simons. “Having worked for the paper for nearly four full years I have seen many great editors, writers, and photographers who have all contributed to make The Colonnade such a great student run newspaper.”

Simons, along with reporter Aubrie Sofala, will be recognized at the Southeast Journalism Conference later this month. Last year, The Colonnade earned five awards at SEJC and competed against 32other schools including University of Mississippi, University of Memphis, Belmont University and Vanderbilt University.

The Colonnade is the official student newspaper of Georgia College. This weekly newspaper informs and entertains students, faculty, staff and alumni about events concerning the campus community. The independent paper provides students opportunities for hands-on experience as writers, advertising representatives, editors, photojournalists, designers and publishers, while exercising the constitutional rights and responsibilities of freedom of the press. Established in 1924, The Colonnade continues to offer accurate, fast and complete news coverage and a forum for debate and discussion for the GC community.

Posted by gcsunade on Feb 8 2011. Filed under News, Slideshows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.