CSB/SJU student newspaper earns eight awards at convention

To most students, a “newspaper convention” might sound a bit nerdy. But to the staff of The Record, it’s what they’ve been preparing for the whole academic year. 

Editors of The Record, the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University student-run newspaper, traveled to Minneapolis to compete against other college newspapers in the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) Best of the Midwest Convention Feb. 17-19 at the Millennium Hotel. 

The Record took home eight awards - ranging from second to 10th place, including a third-place in the Best of Show category. The Record competed in the four-year weekly division for the newspaper/section awards, and in the non-Division I category in the individual awards. Entries could be submitted from Feb. 1, 2016, until Feb. 17, 2017. 

The Record earned awards in the following categories: 

• Best of Show - Third Place (for Jan. 27 edition);
• News Photo - Second Place (CSB senior Nicole Pederson, for photo of Patty Wetterling at Jacob Wetterling’s memorial service in Sept. 30 issue);
• Single Page Design - Second Place (SJU junior Sean Kelly, for design of variety page in Feb. 3 edition);
• Feature Story - Fourth Place (CSB senior Anna Hueg, for story on transgender professor Liam Lair in Oct. 27 edition);
• News Story -  Sixth Place (CSB sophomore Sierra Lammi, for story on student protests in Feb. 10 edition);
• Newspaper Special Edition - Seventh place (Sept. 23 edition, featuring the resolution of the 1989 Jacob Wetterling abduction);  
• Sports Story - Seventh Place (CSB senior Annie Dittberner, for story on SJU track champion Ryan Bugler in Sept. 23 edition);
• Publication Website - 10th Place. 

Besides the awards, the CSB/SJU students gathered with college journalists from the Midwest and participated in breakout sessions, listened to keynote speakers, toured the Star Tribune newsroom and watched the 6 p.m. news at WCCO. 

The Record is a weekly newspaper that publishes every Friday. The staff creates the newspaper on Wednesday nights. The average production night starts at 3 p.m. and finishes around 3 a.m. 

“We couldn’t be the newspaper we are without student writers and photographers contributing each week,” Managing Editor Hope Mueller said. “It’s not just our staff that works hard, it’s the entire CSB/SJU student body.” 

The Record’s management staff is comprised of 13 Bennies and Johnnies from majors including political science, English, accounting, global business leadership and classics. 

“Since our staff is made up of students from all different majors, we don’t all take classes in journalism or design - we do a lot of learning on the job,” said Megan Flynn, editor in chief of The Record. “Going to ACP is a great opportunity for us to learn from the pros and get new ideas to bring back to our own paper.” 

For the last five years The Record staff has been advised by Star Tribune reporter Kelly Smith (‘08). Smith used to be editor in chief of The Record and now helps the editors learn reporting and editing skills while advising them on how to cover difficult stories. 

“I’m incredibly proud of all the students who work really hard each week to produce high-quality journalism,” Smith said. “These awards prove that The Record is one of the best college newspapers in the Midwest. CSB/SJU should be proud to have an award-winning campus newspaper and even more importantly, a newspaper that is making a difference and helping inform the entire community each week.”