The El Camino College student newspaper The Union and magazine Warrior Life took home 32 awards at three college media award shows held on Saturday, March 12.
The awards are part of two events held during the same weekend: The College Media Association conference in New York City and the Journalism Association of Community Colleges and California College Media Association convention in San Francisco.
Members of the journalism program, including four editors, attended the College Media Association conference in New York City, participating, in a series of workshops surrounding strengthening student media in multiple aspects.
Jack Mulkey, business and advertising manager, works with journalism instructor Stefanie Frith to submit student work for awards in multiple competitions.
“It’s a very difficult choice often, because there’s so much good work, but we do narrow it down…” Mulkey said, adding that the department enters roughly six or seven contests annually. “Each contest is a little different. They have different entry requirements and might not have the same categories.”
These awards help students stand out to future employers and potential colleges they plan to transfer to.
“We are very excited for our students who work incredibly hard to document the history of El Camino college on behalf of the El Camino community,” Stefanie Frith, a media advisor for The Union and Warrior Life said. “When their work is recognized outside of the campus, it’s very exciting and rewards them for all of that hard work.”
The contests showcase work from a national to statewide level, highlighting student journalism across different colleges and universities.
Journalism major Nikki Yunker, 21, won a total of five awards from the different conferences.
Her top awards included: the David L. Adams Apple Award for Best Multimedia from at the CMA conference and first place for best magazine illustration at the JACC awards.
“It was a dream come true. It’s really a representation of all the hard work and effort that goes into this program,” Yunker said. “I felt really honored to win an award. I really do appreciate it.”
Journalism major and opinion editor at The Union Madison Moody, 22, took home second place for best news photo of an arrest on campus at the CMA conference. It was her first year picking up a camera and she didn’t feel super confident in the beginning.
“As a new editor and reporter, I can be hard on myself at times. It was very nice to see that I was able to win second place at something I never really saw myself being good at,” Moody said.
Yunker, the current editor-in-chief of Warrior Life, encourages students to work hard and be consistent.
“Just be curious, put effort into the work you’re doing, dig deep, and make the most out of every opportunity. Be dedicated to the craft,” Yunker said.
Here is the full list of awards:
College Media Association, Apple awards
Best multimedia-First place, Nikki Yunker (What’s free at El Camino)
Best editorial-Second place, Rosemarie Turay
Best news photo-Second place, Madison Moody (Campus arrest, Oct. 4)
Best feature photo-Third place, Ryan Hirabayashi (13-year-old sportscaster)
Best newspaper-Third place, The Union
Best magazine-Honorable mention, Warrior Life
Best newsletter-Honorable mention
Journalism Association of Community Colleges
First place-Magazine illustration, Nikki Yunker (Everyday enchantment)
Second place-Magazine photo, Erica Lee (The United Skates of Keiana)
Second place-Environmental portrait photo, Chelsa Alvarez, (A physics professor’s journey from the big screen to El Camino College’s clasrooms)
Third place-Magazine photo, Eddy Cermeno (The Hairapist is in)
Third place- Magazine profile article, Erica Lee (The United Skates of Keiana)
Fourth place- Magazine illustration, Ivan E. Mendez De Leon (Spiritual journey through Umrah)
Fourth place-Magazine design/layout, Staff (Spring, Warrior Life) Fourth place-Editorial writing, Nikki Yunker
Fourth place-Profile feature story, Jaylen Morgan (13-year-old sportscaster)
Fourth place-Sports feature photo, Mario Trejos (Baseball injury)
Fourth place- Sports action photo, Ryan Hirabayashi (Basketball loose ball or football with player upended)
Magazine news feature-Honorable mention, Sydney Sakamoto (Padded for Protection)
Newspaper writing-Honorable mention, Rosemarie Turay (Suspect arrested on charge of setting two fires at El Camino)
Sports feature photo-Honorable mention, Ryan Hirabayashi (Either Coach Uphoff or 13-year-old sportscaster)
General excellence-Warrior Life magazine magazine
General excellence-The Union website
California College Media Association
Best magazine photo-First place, Eddy Cermeno (The Hairapist is in)
Best magazine story-First place, Erica Lee (The United Skates of Keiana)
Best social justice coverage-The Union, based on these five stories:
- Campus pantry – Keandra Lee and Ana Gamez
- Pow Wow -Elsa Rosales
- Tennis and Title IX – Sydney Sakamoto
- Smuggled out of Egypt– Oriana de Quay
- Immigration enforcement concerns-Oriana de Quay
Best feature story-First place, Jaylen Morgan (13-year-old sportscaster)
Best sports photography-Second place, Ryan Hirabayashi (Loose basketball)
Best breaking news story-Second place, Rosemarie Turay (Suspect arrested on charge of setting two fires at El Camino)
Best vertical short video-Third place, Nikki Yunker (Campus bells)
Best multimedia package-Third place, Nikki Yunker (What’s free at El Camino)
Best overall newspaper design-Third place, Staff (The Union)
Best arts and entertainment story-Third place, Eleni Klostrakis (Physics professor)
Editor’s note: This story was updated Tuesday, March 17 to fix a numerical error.
