The Ohio News Media Association (ONMA) News and Collegiate Fellowship Day celebrated college and university newspapers across Ohio. News publications gathered to be recognized in multiple categories for journalistic excellence.
BG Falcon Media competed in Division A, within which they won five awards, including finishing second overall in Division A for Excellence in Collegiate Journalism.
Individual and group awards were given BG Falcon Media. Reporter Andrew Kish won first place in both in-depth reporting and multimedia reporting. This is the second year in a row BG Falcon Media has won both of these awards.
“Winning first place for Best Multimedia Package as well as In-Depth Reporting for my work on ‘Non-traditional artist and advocate’ is truly a humbling experience. It’s an honor to have my work recognized by the Ohio News Media Association and those committed to telling the stories that matter to our communities,” Kish said.
“This story is one I am especially grateful to be able to tell and I think also an important one for people to read. The subject matter is one that is often underrepresented in the news, so it’s important to shed light on important issues, specifically this one. To have my work—especially this story in particular—acknowledged is something I’m incredibly grateful for.”
The BG News design team, including Kyle Nelson, Abigail Gabe and Abbie Knauss, took first place in design for the second year in a row.
A judge from the ONMA panel noted the design team’s “consistent look and design throughout” and the paper’s overall “creative look and feel.”
BG Falcon Media’s Live and Loud production, represented by Brynn Drabek, Carson DiSalvo, Thomas Williamson and Fiona Parrish, took second place in the arts and entertainment category.
A judge from the ONMA panel noted the crew’s “good job of describing the bands’ sounds” and commended their “highlighting (of) their back stories and personalities.”
BG Falcon Media executives like News Content Director Olivia Vallandingham, Sports Content Director Lucas Kleinmeyer, BG News Editor-In-Chief Alivia Hartpence, BG News Managing Editor Gabrielle Monk and Sports Production Director Tyler Kavalecz represented BG Falcon Media at the event.
BG News Editor-in-Chief Alivia Hartpence said that she was extremely proud of her team, and felt that the accomplishment was extremely deserved.
“I am so incredibly proud of the BG News team this year. Most of our reporters were either freshmen or had never been published before, so being able to come out on top this way with the team we had is something to be celebrated,” Hartpence said.
“BG Falcon Media is continuously growing and continuously getting better. Next year I’m sure will be even greater.”
