The Beacon, the University of Portland’s weekly student-produced newspaper, is a finalist for the national College Media Association’s Pinnacle Award for Weekly College Newspaper of the Year. Newspapers from Vanderbilt University, DePaul University, and Texas Woman’s University are also finalists for the national award. The Pinnacle Awards honor the best college media organizations and student individual work. The winners will be honored at the National College Media Convention in Philadelphia Oct. 29 – Nov. 2. For more information contact Nancy Copic, student activities, at 7470 or copic@up.edu.
The Beacon
Beacon Staffers Off To Nationals
The Society of Professional Journalists has named its 2013 Mark of Excellence Awards winners from Region 10, which encompasses Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. The awards honor the best of collegiate journalism from each calendar year. Honorees received award certificates the weekend of May 2 at the Region 10 Spring Conference in Portland.
Olivia Alsept-Ellis (pictured) and Kelsey Thomas of The Beacon won first place in General News Reporting (Small) for their story, “Cyber confessions become cyberbullying.” Peter Gallagher, Katie Dunn, and Kelsey Thomas were finalists for Best Sports Writing for their Beacon article, “Selfless, tough, compassionate.” The Beacon was also a finalist for the Best All-Around Non Daily Student Newspaper award. First-place winners will move on to the national MOE competition among category winners from all regions. National winners will be notified in the late spring and will be recognized at the Excellence in Journalism 2014 conference in Nashville, Tenn., September 4 to 6.
For more information contact Nancy Copic, student activities, at 7470 or copic@up.edu.
Beacon Staffers Win Ethics-Focused Journalism Internships
The Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism has chosen three Beacon staffers for its paid summer internship program, which places student journalists at media outlets around the state of Oregon.
Beacon “Living” editor Kate Stringer will divide her time reporting for the Portland Tribune and Forest Grove News-TImes; editor-in-chief Kelsey Thomas will report for the Mail Tribune in Medford; and Beacon reporter Nastacia Voisin will intern for the News-Register in McMinnville. Each will have an experienced mentor editor, who will work closely with them for 10 weeks.
The Snowden Program is based at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, and honors the legacy of Charles Snowden, a longtime editor at the Oregon Journal and Oregonian. A key component of the internship program is reviewing ethical practices in the context of journalism. Interns are chosen based on their potential for successful media careers based on journalism experience, commitment to ethics, passion for journalism and academic achievement.
For more information contact Nancy Copic, stuent activities, at 7470 or copic@up.edu.
Beacon Staffers Wanted
The Beacon, our award-winning student newspaper and website, is taking applications for all positions for the 2014-15 academic year, including reporters, photographers, graphic designers, editors, sports reporters, business and circulation managers, web content manager, and more. The application deadline is Thursday, February 13. For more information and an online application, go to www.upbeacon.com/jobs.
Beacon Makes National Finals
The Beacon, the University’s weekly student-produced newspaper, is a finalist for the Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker Award, a national award considered for the past 86 years to be the most prestigious award in college media, according to Nancy Copic, student activities. The Beacon is among 22 colleges and universities whose newspaper are finalists, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston College, George Washington University, University of Oregon, Johns Hopkins, and more. The Associated Collegiate Press will announce this year’s Pacemaker winners at their convention in New Orleans on October 26. For more information contact Copic at 7470 or copic@up.edu.
Beacon Awards Keep Rolling In
The University’s student-run weekly newspaper, The Beacon, won 27 awards—including first place for General Excellence— at the statewide collegiate awards ceremony of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association on May 11, according to Nancy Copic, student activities. The citation for first place reads: “The Beacon is an excellent student newspaper. It has a strong mix of stories and columns, extraordinarily good design, and a quality of journalism that is very high. One issue covered thoroughly a campus discussion of the university’s nondiscrimination policy and did so ably. Even though the paper’s position was clear, it was not a rant. In fact, it was professionally handled. Students are shown everywhere in the paper, as a good student newspaper should. There is clearly no fear in taking on issues that could be controversial on campus. The Beacon is impressive.”
For more information contact Copic at 7470 or copic@up.edu.
National Win For The Beacon
Caitlin Yilek, who served as the 2011-2012 Beacon opinions editor, has won a national First Place Award for Editorial Writing in the Society of Professional Journalists’ Mark of Excellence Awards, for editorials she wrote for The Beacon. Two current Beacon staffers, Kate Stringer and Jackie Jeffers, are national finalists for Feature Writing and Sports Photography, respectively. The Beacon journalists competed in the “Small School” category, meaning colleges and universities with 5,000 or fewer students. Yilek, who graduated in 2012, won for her editorials titled “Where are all the women?,” “University disregards student media,” and “What has ASUP done for you?” She is now a copy editor at the 
in her home state of Minnesota. She will receive the award at the SPJ Excellence in Journalism convention in Anaheim, Calif.,in August. For more information contact Nancy Copic, student activities, at 7470 or copic@up.edu.
“Beacon” Shines Again
The Beacon made an impressive showing at the regional Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) conference at held at Gonzaga University, winning first place in five categories in the Mark of Excellence awards, according to Nancy Copic, student activities. The Beacon also won second place for best all-around weekly college newspaper (5,000 students and fewer). First place winners will advance to the national SPJ competition and winners will be announced at the national SPJ conference in Anaheim, Calif., in late August.
First Place winners include:
- General News Reporting: Philip Ellefson, “Access Denied”
- Feature Writing: Kate Stringer, “Molly’s Legacy: Hope for Haiti”
- Column Writing: Amanda Munro, Sarah Hansell, Lydia Laythe
- Sports Photography: Jackie Jeffers, “Round Two!”
- Editorial Writing: Caitlin Yilek, Opinions editor
Second place winners include:
- Best All-Around Non-Daily Student Newspaper (schools with 5,000 or fewer students)
- General News Reporting: Kelsey Thomas, “Students cooperate but still can’t party”
- Feature Photography: Joey Solano, “The story behind the ink”
- In-depth Reporting: Rosemary Peters (last year’s editor in chief), “What’s in our Air?”
Third place winners included Jackie Jeffers, who won in Breaking News Photography for “He said yes!”
Region 10 includes collegiate newspapers in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. For more information contact Copic at 7470 or copic@up.edu.
Beacon Shines Again
The University’s award-winning student publication, the Beacon, has won 10 regional Mark of Excellence awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, according to advisor Nancy Copic, student activities. The competition encompasses student newspapers from Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and Alaska. The Beacon competed in the Small College or University category, with 5,000 or fewer undergraduate students. The staff will learn if the awards are for first, second, or third place at the regional SPJ conference at Gonzaga on April 12 and 13. Any first place regional winners will advance to the national SPJ competition later in the year. For more information contact Copic at 7470 or copic@up.edu.