Student Media claims 34 honors at national media convention

Student Media claims 34 honors at national media convention

Northwest Missouri State University Student Media members traveled this month to Washington, D.C., and returned with a total of 34 awards, including a stake as the best video outlet in the country.

MediaFest '25, sponsored Oct. 15-18 by the College Media Association, Associated Collegiate Press and the Society of Professional Journalists, encompassed three awards ceremonies - the CMA Pinnacle awards, the ACP Pacemaker/Of the Year Honors and Convention Best in Show honors.

Northwest Student Media - which includes the Northwest Missourian student newspaper, Tower yearbook, KNWT television and KZLX radio - won a combined 28 Pinnacle awards, including five first-place honors. It also earned two ACP Of the Year honors, including a newspaper Pinnacle finalist award, and four Best in Show honors. A complete list of awards appears below.

Will Murphy, the advisor for KNWT, said the Video Outlet of the Year honor is validation of the focus Northwest and its School of Communication and Mass Media place on profession-based learning.

"We push to get hands-on with media as soon as you hit campus," he said. "We create environments where students can create what they want instead of just a few limited categories of content, and we put equipment and facilities in their hands that make this possible. Because of all this, I feel that our students can spend more time on task than their peers, can be more creative with fewer restrictions and are better prepared for the world beyond our program."

Hannah Claywell, the Northwest Missourian's editor-in-chief, traveled to D.C. for the convention and awards ceremonies and celebrated the newspaper's third-place award in the MediaFest '25 Best in Show Newspaper contest.

"Being able to attend a nationwide convention and return with so many awards is surreal," Claywell said. "It truly shows how much hard work everyone who is a part of the Missourian puts in and how amazing our program at Northwest is."

CMA PINNACLE AWARDS

First place

• Video Outlet of the Year: KNWT
• Coverage of Diversity: Northwest Missourian, "DEI Special Issue"
• Video Advertisement: KNWT, "Can You?" by Katie Ley and Emily Rea
• Infographic: Tower, "Northwest By the Numbers" by Alora Bucey
• Rate Card/Media Kit: Northwest Missourian

Second place

• Yearbook of the Year: Northwest Missouri State University, Tower
• Audio Advertisement: KZLX, "KZLX's Got You Covered" by Jonathan Rinehart
• Yearbook Cover: Tower, "Tower 2025 In Motion" by Cassie Ford
• Ad Campaign: Northwest Missourian, "NCAA Brackets"
• Print Advertisement: Northwest Missourian, Gray's Truck Stop by Sydney Cook
• Game Story (audio/video): KNWT, "Northwest vs UCM Volleyball" by Jake Walker and Blake Rizner

Third place

• Advertising Special Section: Northwest Missourian, "Cat's Guide and Poster Calendar"
• Best DJ Personality: KZLX, Tru Bilharz for "Good Morning Maryville"
• Game Story (audio/video): KZLX, "Interview with Coach McMenamin" by Jackson Phelps
• Special Section: Northwest Missourian, "DEI Special Issue"
• Investigative Sports Story: Northwest Missourian, "Northwest athletic department talks decline in home sporting attendance" by Trey Houchin
• Video Entertainment Program: KNWT, "Now You Know" by Tyrell Childress and Avery Andell

Honorable mentions

• Feature Package (audio/video): KNWT, "Byron Alexander Profile" by Dante Distefano
• Video Newscast: KNWT, "Northwest News" by Shelby Singleton and Blake Rizner
• Headline: Tower, "Pro-Craft-Inating" by Dylan Daugherty
• Yearbook Spread: Tower, "Campus Construction//Student Response" by Lanie Nehl
• Newspaper Spread: Northwest Missourian, "DEI Special Issue" by Julianna Lawrence
• Special Section Cover: Northwest Missourian, "Election 2024" by Julianna Lawrence
• Coverage of Faith: Northwest Missourian, "Northwest athletes talk faith on the field" by Leah Cox
• Investigative Story: Northwest Missourian, "Campus reports show six cases of assault and harassment since Sept. 25, said not to be campus-wide concern" by Hannah Claywell
• Editorial Cartoon: Northwest Missourian, "Sexual Assault Awareness Month: You are not alone" by Anna Case
• Video Sportscast: KNWT, "Bearcat Update" by Killian Beck
• Audio Outlet of the Year: Northwest Missouri State University, KZLX

ACP OF THE YEAR AWARDS

Design of the Year, honorable mention: Yearbook Cover: Tower yearbook, "Tower 2025 In Motion"

Pacemaker finalist: Northwest Missourian

MEDIAFEST '25 BEST IN SHOW AWARDS

• Yearbook, second place: Tower
• Newspaper (four-year campus with 15,000 students or fewer), third place: Northwest Missourian
• Seventh Place: Leah Cox, "Tennis Players Talk Struggles, Team Camaraderie," Northwest Missourian
• Photojournalism 10th Place: Nathan Noda, "NW Soccer 9/17 Margaret Madden Goal #1," Northwest Missourian