Staff Report

Eagle View won 14 awards at the Arkansas College Media Association on April 12 in Arkadelphia on the Ouachita Baptist University campus. The winnings from the 2023 academic year were awarded to Eagle View staff and contributors who competed in the contest.

Eagle View had 16 award recipients. In the General Excellence categories, Morgan Nunley won second place in the Website Editor of the Year category and Delaney Reaves received an honorable mention in the Newspaper Editor of the Year. Eagle View won honorable mention in Newspaper of the Year.

Samantha McClain, managing editor – Online Editor, won first place for her work “Anti-war protestors speak against the violence in Gaza” in the Breaking News category for online publications.

“I am so happy the one story I really struggled with won first place in the ACMA,” McClain said. “Writing about the anti-war protests was the hardest and most controversial story I have ever written. Walking up to receive my award was a relief and exciting to be recognized by my hard work.”

“Eagle View Expanding to Digital Age” won first place in multimedia package produced in a team effort by Samantha McClain, Delaney Reaves and Morgan Nunley. The multimedia package featured work from Vivian Mejia, Kyndal Kohl, Alex Diaz, Johanna Gonzalez and Madison De Lia.

Other awards received by Eagle View writers and staff members included:

  • Thatcher Reckner, second place, online
  • Delaney Reaves and Gillian Bunting, second place, online breaking news
  • Delaney Reaves and Samantha McClain, third place, online breaking news
  • Brooklyn Meek, third place in newspaper column writing and honorable mention in headline writing
  • Abigail Salazar, third place in newspaper art/illustration
  • Kyndal Kohl, honorable mention in newspaper reviews
  • Adam Bannister and Bryce Watson, honorable mention in online meeting/speech story
  • Delaney Reaves, honorable mention in online feature writing.

The ACMA conference included educational sessions, networking opportunities, portfolio and resume reviews, newspaper critiques and an awards ceremony. Nine students and one advisor were in attendance to represent the NWACC student-run newspaper.

The Eagle View advisor and lead editors requested in Fall 2023 for an allocation of funds for the trip. The funds were collected from the Student Activity Fund following the Review Board recommending the request for assistance with hotel fees and contest entry and registration costs. Reaves, editor-in-chief of the Eagle View, extended the team’s thanks to those who contributed toward the opportunity for students to participate in the educational rewarding trip.

“This trip was a great bonding experience that I will cherish and a great way to network with other students that I may work alongside with one day,” she said. “I was able to meet professionals and learn from some of the best. I’m grateful to those who contributed to this opportunity and proud of the newspaper staff I have the pleasure to work with.”

With various schools in attendance from across the state, Eagle View members were able to network with other college students and professionals in the media field. Guest speakers and contributors for the conference extended opportunities for students to reach out to them or their companies for questions, guidance or information about internships.

Madison Ogle, a University of Central Arkansas student, said the ACMA conference was a great experience and that it felt more exciting this year. She has attended three ACMA conferences and will graduate this May with a bachelor’s in journalism and minors in marketing and communications.

“The panels and discussions are always great, but I was more excited about how many different people and schools seemed to win. UCA ended up doing well in a lot of the categories but I was actually happy to see someone else win photographer of the year this year,” Ogle said.

Ogle said that the competition felt more competitive which made the ceremony more fun. She added that she was thrilled that various people received recognition for their good work. Ogle said that she always thought student journalism is super important and participating in competitions has been something she’s encouraged her friends to do. 

“It’s great seeing hard working students be able to call themselves award-winning journalists,”

Madison Ogle