Parkland Student Newspaper the Prospectus Wins ICCJA Awards
The Prospectus student newspaper snags 11 journalism awards
Parkland College's student newspaper the Prospectus was recently recognized with 11 awards by the Illinois Community College Journalism Association (ICCJA).
The ICCJA presents awards for excellence in Illinois community college newspapers once a year to colleges in two divisions, spanning a variety of media categories, with an overall award for excellence. Among 10 other wins, the Prospectus staff earned the 2021 first place Mike Foster General Excellence award in Division 2 for the Prospectus' website.
Awards were presented this April at the 2022 ICCJA Spring Conference at Eastern Illinois University for work submitted in the fall 2021 semester. The fall 2021 Prospectus staff includes editors Halee Fyke and Lizzie Jackson, digital editor Emma Routh, reporters Nate Carsten, Trent Chassy, Madi Houser, and Jovi Pembele, designer Cami Alagna, podcaster Alicia Buskirk, and photographer Cameron Thomas.
ICCJA 2021 Awards:
- Mike Foster General Excellence: first place, Prospectus staff
- Headline: first place, Trent Chassy. "Souring the people's power"
- Feature Photo: first place and honorable mention, Cameron Thomas
- Podcast: second place, Alicia Buskirk. Prospectus Radio
- Editorial Writer of the Year: second place, Trent Chassy
- Graphic: second place, Cami Alagna. "Dia de los Muertos"
- Best Student Media: honorable mention, Alicia Buskirk. Prospectus Radio: Episode 9
- News Story: honorable mention, Alicia Buskirk. "Processing the Parkland Point shooting"
- Staff Editorial: honorable mention, Trent Chassy. "Souring the people's power"
- Arts Review: honorable mention, Lizzie Jackson. "'She Kills Monsters' rolls a critical hit on performance"
"I'm super proud of this group," says associate professor of English and Prospectus staff advisor, Lauren O'Connor. "At the start of last semester, most of our students were new to journalism! They have worked and continue to work very hard to meet their weekly deadlines with creative, award-winning work."
The Prospectus is Parkland College’s campus-wide student newspaper and has been in constant production since late 1968. The reporters and editors are exclusively students of Parkland College with a variety of majors and career interests. They set out to provide an outlet for students to further develop their writing, photography, communication, time management, and critical thinking skills while producing a quality, trusted source of news for Parkland-goers. For more information, please visit the Prospectus website or parkland.edu/prospectus.
[Images: The Prospectus staff (from left: Trent Chassy, Nate Carsten, Kelly Hoene, Alicia Buskirk, Lizzie Jackson) hard at work; "Highway," Cameron Thomas, photography]