Student publications win journalism awards

The Lantern newspaper and The Grizzly Magazine return to Butler Community College with a total of 22 awards. In total, The Lantern earned 18 individual awards and also received second place in the Overall Kansas division among two-year colleges, and the magazine earned three individual awards. 

Over the course of two days, Sunday, April 13 and Monday, April 14, the student publications traveled to the Rhatigan Student Center, located on the Wichita State University campus, for the Kansas Collegiate Media (KCM) spring conference. There they met with college journalists and advisers across the state.  

Both The Lantern and The Grizzly have been long-time members of KCM. The conference included both professional journalists, college graduates and advisers. On Monday, The Lantern editor and reporters attended a couple of different sessions such as: “Human Journalism” and “Get Your Stuff Together:  Resumes, Cover Letters and Portfolios.” 

"They talked about how to connect with the interviewee and how to gain trust,” Vanessa Gutierrez, who attended the session on “Human Journalism,” said. “Mitch Eden, (an education and media consultant), talked about how everyone has a story. We just have to use the right words to say it.”  

For Gutierrez, she hopes to work in public relations or advertising.  

“I’ve always been intrigued in getting the word out to people but also the creativity part of it,” Gutierrez said. “I struggled finding what I wanted to do, but when I learned, I fell in love.” 

The awards ceremony was also split into two days. Following the keynote, Todd Vogts, the Sterling College Observer’s adviser, and Amy Devault, The Sunflower’s adviser, announced winners. The contest is split between different sections: two-year college newspapers, magazine and yearbook, four-year public and four-year private compete against one another. 

Over the course of two days, Caileane Thurston, The Lantern’s editor-in-chief, earned seven awards. 

"I was a little bit surprised, but at the same time I was very proud of myself,” Thurston said. “My passion for journalism and writing means a lot to me. It makes me want to challenge myself more and improve in the future.” 

Among Thurston’s awards, some of these included: second place in Sports Feature Writing and second place in event coverage. 

Ella Boozer, The Grizzly Magazine’s editor-in-chief, earned five awards at the conference too. 

“As a staff, it’s always good to have work reviewed and reflect on how we can make the next issue better,” Boozer said. “It’s what fuels us to produce high-quality stories and really connect with the students and faculty at Butler.”  

One particular session that college journalists found useful was about preparing for what’s next. Tom Shine with KMUW and Amy Devault, The Sunflower adviser, helped students with resumes and portfolios. Thurston, who will graduate in May, plans to transfer to Wichita State and work for The Sunflower.  

“The session is able to help me for my future career,” Thurston said. “They all tied in with getting a job in the future. The conference sessions also helped me realize how important it is not to be late, to be organized and to be prepared for what is coming next.  

Following graduation from Wichita State, Thurston hopes to find a job as a journalist in a larger city such as working for The New York Times or ABC News. 

Wensheng Cheng, who goes by Rosie, received her first KCM award for column writing.  

“In the past 10 years, I have only had the experience of shooting microfilms for schools and working at The Lantern newspaper,” Cheng said. “I hope that the work I do can be more actively involved in the events, and I hope that my engagements can establish a better connection and communication with this world.” 

The awards received, according to both publications, are an opportunity to see where they shine and can continue to grow.  

Now that both publications have returned to Butler, both The Lantern and The Grizzly are working to produce the last issue of the spring semester.