The USU Eagle staff recently brought home eight awards from the Utah Press Association’s Better Newspaper Competition.
In its fifth year of membership in the UPA, the Eagle staff won five second place awards and three third place awards, bringing their total awards to over 40.
The Eagle won second place in Best News Series for its stories on enrollment and the four-in-four goal. Nathaniel Woodward of Price won second in Best Feature Series for his science-based series while Bonnie Blackburn of Centerville won second for her Best Feature/Community Lifestyle Page that incorporated theatre, travel and funky hair. Josie Sue Slade of Maracopa, Ari., who serves as editor of the newspaper, won second place for her Best Circulation Promotion about reading The Eagle online and the webpage designed by Les Bowen of Prescott, Ari., won second for Best Website.
Third place awards were won in Best Breaking News Story about the “Rumors of USU Eastern Preschool Closing.” David Osborne Jr. of Salt Lake City, netted two-third-place finishes with the Best Sports Column series and Best Sports Story about “The Nightmare Road Woes Continue for Eagles.”
The Eagle was judged in group one of four newspaper categories that includes all weeklies under 2,500 in circulation. As a member of UPA, it has the smallest circulation in the state with 1,000 copies printed every other week. A lot of its readership comes from its website at usueagle.com.
“Utah has great newspapers representing every area of the state and the Eastern student’s work is judged against other universities plus professionals. Winning in any category is a real honor,” adviser Susan Polster said. “The Eagle gets a lot of assistance from the Sun Advocate’s publisher, Richard Shaw. Without him, we would not be a part of UPA and we owe him great deal for what he does to keep us afloat.”
Other college newspapers with membership in UPA include Utah Valley University, Brigham Young University, University of Utah, Weber State University and Utah State University. Weber State’s “Signpost” was included in group one and won the general excellence award.
The Utah Press Association was created in 1893 to represent Utah’s publishers. The organization is Utah’s oldest trade association. “As an organization, we represent Utah’s finest, most respected journalism,” its website reads. “Utah Press Association annually recognizes excellence in our state’s newspapers and presents awards to industry leaders.”