Eagle View, Staff Report

The NWACC Eagle View received 10 different awards at the Arkansas College Media Association conference in Harding University. 

Awards were presented for work completed and published in ​​2022. ACMA is an organization for college student media outlets based at state and private universities and colleges throughout Arkansas. More than 665 entries were submitted for this year’s contest. 

The Eagle View team won first place in Online Breaking News published or posted within 24 hours. The award recognized work by Ken Jeffries, Alivia Ogle, Morgan Nunley, Delaney Reaves, Lindsey Meraz, Lilly Orum, Chris Davis, Halle Roberts, and Patty Rodgers. The team prepared a special two-page online issue related to the 2022 midterm election results. An Eagle View team also received first place in Video Podcasts for the Spring 2022 Arts and Culture Festival Interdependence video by Preston Dean, Haley Carter, William Hamilton, and Jeffery Johnson. The video was posted on YouTube and disseminated through college social media channels.

“I was excited to attend the conference, learn more and connect with others who are in journalism,” said Reaves, the paper’s managing editor. “My experience at the ACMA conference held up to that expectation. I also was able to connect with other student journalists, learn about their work and see how other student newspapers operate.”

Samantha McClain, editor-in-chief of the Eagle View said that she is looking forward to applying the experience gained at ACMA to the newspaper. 

“I am glad that I went because I was able to go to a yearbook design class and get my portfolio critique. I feel prepared to show my portfolio to others now and be proud of the work that I have done. As editor-in-chief, I am really proud of my staff members who have won awards and I can witness new ideas coming from my staff members”, McClain said.

The Eagle View won second place in several categories. Samantha McClain and Abigail Salazar won second place in Feature Page Layout for the design of the third page of the October/ November issue of 2022. Ogle won second place in Online Election/Political story about her article titled, “Sanders, Jones, Harrinton seek to make history.”

Reaves, Jeffries, Dean, Ogle, Orum, Nunley, Davis and Roberts won second place in Multimedia Package for the midterm election across varied platforms during a span of 72 hours. Reaves and Jeffries won second place in Topical Reporting/Blogs with their blog articles pertaining to the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks: “Remembering Sept. 11 — Mother, Firefighter Recall Reactions to Day’s Events; A Different ‘Day of Infamy.’”

The Eagle View won third place in two other categories of the ACMA. Emily Patten won in art/illustration with a comic called “Class Hacks.” Dean won in Social Media – Breaking News for Election Day coverage.

Receiving an award is very validating, said Kyndal Kohl, Eagle View reporter. Kohl received an honorable mention in Reviews-Arts and Entertainment for her story about a book review called “Black Flags, Blue Waters.”

In the General Excellence categories, McClain received an honorable mention in the Newspaper Editor of the Year competition. 

Eight events were available to students to attend on the morning of April 14. Several media outlets participated and many employers were on hand to promote both internships and permanent employment, help with résumés and review portfolios.

Carter, reporter for the paper, said that the conference was an enjoyable experience and she liked getting to listen to the speakers. “I certainly appreciate being invited to the 2023 ACMA’s.” Carter said.  

“I learned of a company located in Little Rock, Arkansas that wants to collaborate with all of the podcasters in Arkansas; big or small podcasters!”, Carter said “It was nice being a part of the receiving end of the video podcast award”. 

At 9 a.m. the ACMA conference offered sessions called “Adobe Suite Design Tips, Tricks,” “Sports Journalism,” and “Niche Media Careers.” 

“Sports Journalism’’ was taught by Jack Allen, weekend sports anchor at KATV in Little Rock, where he covered the Razorbacks as well as small college and high school sports, and James Thompson, KATV assignment editor and the retired lead communicator for Entergy Arkansas, according to acma.1929.wordpress.com. The session was moderated by Tim Hamilton, assistant professor of communication and multimedia producer at Harding University and Harding Sports Network. 

“Niche Media Careers” was taught by the Arkansas Business Publishing Group who created magazines like Arkansas Bride, Little Rock Soiree, Arkansas Business and Greenhead. Katelyn Allen, ABPG staff writer; Lance Turner, Arkansas Business editor; Tiffany Mattzela, ABPG director of events; and Mandy Richardson, Little Rock Soiree publisher, shared information, giving an overview of the specialized media space and how written and design contexts are created. 

At 10 a.m., two panels titled “Careers in Freelance Copywriting and Design” and “A Photojournalist’s Path” were offered. “Careers in Freelance Copywriting and Design” was hosted by Tawi Haley, copywriter and marketing consultant, and Tish McClure, owner of Tishlane Design. “A Photojournalist’s Path” was led by Rick Trujillo, award-winning news photographer and former camera operator for Paramount Network TV show COPS during Season 27.

At 11 a.m, the last events that were available for students to attend were “Ethics in the Newsroom” and “Podcast Storytelling 101.” “Ethics in the Newsroom” was led by Chuck Maulden, Griffin Media vice president for content and author of Coverage Competence via Collaboration: Overcoming Political Journalism Challenges in Local Television. Karen Steward, CEO of Little Rock-based podcast production company Power of Pod, led the “Podcast Storytelling 101” to allow participants to learn about the resources from the formation of the Arkansas Podcast Collaboration.

Sessions in the conference were held on the second floor of the Heritage Conference Center. The Heritage Conference Center was newly renovated in the David B. Burks American Heritage building that has form and functions for training seminars, workshops, conferences, conventions and vendor fairs, according to harding.edu. The conference center also has 48 hotel rooms and two suites and provides room service, fax service, refrigerators, a bookstore, library, U.S. Postal Services and a cafeteria with Chick-Fil-A, Panda Express, and Einstein Bros. Bagels, and Tacker’s Shake Shack.

While on the Harding campus, the Eagle View team members were treated to a tour of the university’s multimedia production facilities, including the television studio and control room and yearbook and newspaper offices. 

The Eagle View had won three awards in 2022 and nine awards in the year of 2019.

Debbie Miller is in her first year of serving as faculty adviser for the NWACC Eagle View. “I’m proud of what our students accomplished in winning recognition in some categories that were extremely competitive,” Miller said. “It also pleases me that the recognition included a first place for the video created for the Spring Arts & Culture Festival during previous adviser Denise Nemec’s tenure. I think that speaks to the quality of the instruction and experience we have provided and continue to provide for NWACC students working in media.”