UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

The Beacon

“The Beacon” Wins CSPA Crown Award

The University’s digital student run news source, The Beacon, is among twenty-five digital publications chosen as finalists for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) Crown Awards, to be presented in March 2019 at ceremonies in New York City.  The digital publications were published during the 2017-18 academic year.

The Crown Awards honor top student publications chosen from CSPA’s members. Crowns are selected for overall excellence in a head-to-head comparison. Student publishing in news, magazine, yearbook or digital (online) formats are all eligible.  During Crown consideration, publications are judged on their excellence as shown by their design, photography, concept, coverage and writing. A total of 1,100 publications were eligible for judging. This latest honor comes on the heels of Beacon wins in the College Media Association Pinnacle Awards in November.

For more information contact Nancy Copic, student activities, at copic@up.edu.

 

 

The Beacon Earns National Mark of Excellence Awards

The University’s student-run news source, The Beacon, has won six national Mark of Excellence Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. Winners include:

  • Hannah Sievert, Feature Writing (Small School Division), “Call to the Church“
  • Ben Arthur, Sports Writing (Small School Division), “Tall Standards: Despite Being Undersized, Wintering and Johnson are one of the Top Backcourts in the Country.”
  • Rachel Ramirez, On-line Feature Reporting, “Life and Terror: John Paul Mugisha Finds a New Life on the Bluff.”
  • Finalist, Claire Desmarais and Brennan Robinson, General News Reporting (Small School Division), “ROTC Adjusts Training in an Era of Mass Shootings.”
  • Finalist, Annika Gordon, Feature Photography (Small School Division), “Muslim Women Answer: What Does the Hijab Mean to You?“
  • Finalist, Rachel Rippetoe, General Column Writing (Small School Division).

For more information contact student activities at x7470 or stuact@up.edu.

Beacon wins eight Gold Circle Awards for Digital Media

The Columbia Scholastic Press Association, based at Columbia University in New York City, has awarded The Beacon eight Gold Circle Awards for Digital Media. This national competition covers content published by student-run college media organizations during the 2016- 2017 academic year. The Beacon placed in the following categories: spot news photograph, sports photograph, editorial writing, breaking news, news writing (planned), general or humor commentary, informational graphics and interactive graphics. The Beacon also won certificates of merit for news feature, sports feature, and personality profile.

For more information see the article at this link or contact Nancy Copic, student activities, at copic@up.edu.

Big Wins for The Beacon

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) just announced winners and finalists in its Mark of Excellence Awards for college media in Region 10, which is made up of colleges and universities in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. The Beacon won nine First Place awards, and those winners advance to the national SPJ Mark of Excellence competition in these categories:

  • Best Digital-Only Student Publication – Beacon staff
  • Online Feature Reporting  –Rachel Ramirez
  • In-Depth Reporting* – Clare Duffy, Hannah Sievert, Cheyenne Schoen, Rachel Rippetoe
  • Breaking News* – Rachel Rippetoe
  • General News Reporting* – Claire Desmarais, Brennan Robinson
  • Sports Writing* – Ben Arthur
  • General Column Writing* – Rachel Rippetoe (columns on Harvey Weinstein, the Obamas, the media)
  • Feature Writing* –Hannah Sievert
  • Feature Photography*- Annika Gordon

*Category is for universities with fewer than 10,000 students. 

National winners will be announced later this spring and recognized at the SPJ Excellence in Journalism conference in Baltimore this September.

The Beacon also placed as a regional finalist (Second or Third place) in four categories:

  • Feature Writing* – Olivia Sanchez
  • Editorial Writing: Rachel Rippetoe, Olivia Sanchez, Dora Totoian and Owen Price (editorials: cultural appropriation at Halloween, Greek life FOMO, climate change)
  • Sports Writing* – Ben Arthur
  • Online/Digital News Videography – Cheyenne Schoen

For more information contact Nancy Copic, student activities, at copic@up.edu.

 

Beacon Wins Six First Place Awards, Advances to National Competition

The University of Portland’s student-run digital news publication, The Beacon, has won six First Place awards in the regional Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence contest, and now advances to the national SPJ competition in the following categories:

Digital:

Small university (9,999 or fewer undergraduates):

National winners will be notified in the late spring and will be recognized at the Excellence in Journalism conference in Anaheim, Calif., in September.

Beacon content also placed in regional finals (Second or Third Place) in the following categories:

  • Breaking News Reporting (Clare Duffy, Hannah Baade)
  • In-depth Reporting (Clare Duffy, Malika Andrews, Rachel Rippetoe, Annika Gordon)
  • Sports Writing (Malika Andrews)
  • Best Use of Multimedia (Cheyenne Schoen, Jeff Braccia)
  • Online News Reporting (Clare Duffy,Hannah Baade)
  • Online In-depth Reporting (Clare Duffy, Malika Andrews, Rachel Rippetoe, Hannah Baade, Jenna Rossiter)

The Mark of Excellence Awards for Region 10 involved student media entries from colleges and universities in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. See complete regional contest results here.

The Beacon Debuts Weekly Newsletter

beaconMany staff and faculty accustomed to reading The Beacon every Thursday in the past have asked how to keep up with the now all-digital Beacon. One convenient way is the new weekly Beacon e-mail newsletter, which includes headlines and links to articles, commentary, photos, videos, and other multimedia.
If you would like to receive The Beacon in your inbox every Wednesday night, sign up with your e-mail address here.
Alternatively, you can also receive regular news feeds from The Beacon via Facebook by liking  The Beacon page.
 
For more information contact Nancy Copic, student activities, at x7470 or copic@up.edu.

Malika Andrews Appearing on ESPN, Oct. 12

malikaprofileBeacon editor-in-chief Malika Andrews will take part in a TV panel discussion on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes on Wednesday, October 12. Andrews will appear with two other panelists discussing women in sports during the four-minute segment, which will be taped at ABC studios in New York City on October 9. The segment will be part of an hour-long “One Nacion” special marking Hispanic Heritage month.

ESPN SportsCenter anchor Toni Collins will moderate the panel, which will also feature  journalist Denny Alfonso, who covered the Rio Olympics for ESPN, and a prominent female athlete yet to be announced. Andrews will speak from the point of view of a college woman covering sports.

Andrews received the invitation from ESPN while attending the recent Online News Association (ONA) conference in Denver with Beacon adviser Nancy Copic and three other student journalists from The Beacon. She made her initial contact with ESPN at a convention she attended with Beacon staff in 2015.

Andrews, from Oakland, Calif., joined The Beacon as a sports reporter during fall semester of her sophomore year. She was promoted to sports editor the following semester. University President Fr. Mark Poorman appointed Andrews as editor-in-chief of The Beacon last February. She also covers the Portland Trail Blazers for the Associated Press.

For more information contact Copic at 7470 or copic@up.edu.

Beacon Amasses Awards, Internships, Says Goodbye to Print

Beacon New York 20116.JPGThe Beacon has won four regional Mark of Excellence Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and advances to the national competition in the following categories: General News Reporting, In-Depth Reporting, Online Sports Reporting, and Photo Illustration. The regional competition involved student media from universities in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska with enrollment under 10,000. National winners will be announced at the SPJ convention in New Orleans in September.

Also, the College Media Association awarded the Beacon Second Place in the Apple Awards for Best Newspaper from schools with fewer than 5000 students. First Place went to Rice University’s student newspaper.

Additionally, several Beacon staffers have landed selective media internships this summer. Malika Andrews will intern at the Denver Post as part of the elite Sports Journalism Institute. The Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism has awarded paid internships to Clare Duffy (the Bend Bulletin) and Cheyenne Schoen (Klamath Falls Herald and News). Ben Arthur will intern for the sports department of KOIN-TV (CBS).

The Beacon just published its final print edition and is preparing to go all-digital in the 2016-17 academic year with a new, fast-loading website and improved mobile app. Stay tuned!

For more information, contact Nancy Copic, student activities, at copic@up.edu.

New “Beacon” Editor Appointed

malikaUniversity president Rev. Mark L. Poorman, C.S.C., has appointed Malika Andrews editor-in-chief of The Beacon for the 2016-17 academic year. Andrews, who is now sports editor, has plans for new video content as well as an improved experience on The Beacon mobile app. The weekly student newspaper will take on an all-digital publication format in fall 2016.

Andrews, who is from Oakland, Calif., covers the Portland Trailblazers for the Associated Press in addition to her Beacon duties. Last summer, she interned at Portland’s KOIN 6 News. Recently, Andrews was one of 12 student journalists from across the country selected by the Sports Journalism Institute for an intensive summer training program that will place Andrews in an internship at the Denver Post. She has also won several journalism awards, including national recognition from the Associated Collegiate Press for her Beacon profile of Pilot athlete Korey Thielke. She currently is awaiting word from the Roy W. Howard National Collegiate Reporting Competition, for which she is a finalist.

For more information contact student activities at 7470 or copic@up.edu.