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Communication Arts: The StylusThe Park Stylus swept the in-depth news reporting category in the Missouri College Media Association Better Newspapers and Yearbook competition for work published in 2005. The Stylus also was awarded first place for investigative reporting at the ceremony April 8 at the Sheraton Westport Hotel in St. Louis, Mo. The judges awarded the Stylus two first place honors in the feature writing category. The newspaper was awarded first place in editorial writing for an editorial on communication policy at the university, first place for regular column, first place for information graphic, and first place and third place for best feature page. The newspaper won nine first place awards, nine second place awards and six third place awards. In all, the Stylus won 28 awards. The 1999 Stylus won 27 awards. The Stylus was judged the best overall newspaper in its category this year. "Being recognized for in-depth and investigative reporting speaks to the effort this staff has made to be both responsible and relevant to this community," John Lofflin, advisor, said. "Our motto has been "No Holes" and our effort to tighten our reporting and our arguments has made us a better newspaper." Kevin Horrigan, co-author of "White Rat: A Life in Baseball" about legendary Kansas City and St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog, addressed the students and their advisors before the awards ceremony. Discussing his three decades in journalism, including a stint at the Kansas City Star, his time as sport editor of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and his current role as Post Dispatch columnist, Horrigan provided the students with all the elements of the traditional Reporting 101, however, without course credit. "The newspaper business is in trouble because we don't have enough good reporters and we don't have enough good stories," Horrigan said. He added a key lesson he learned in the business: "Everybody is important and everybody deserves your best effort. Don't ever cheap it out." Horrigan said he was originally skeptical about the importance of his own efforts at sports writing thinking, "This isn't fit work for a grown man." Later he decided, "Anything that gives people that much pleasure must be worth my best effort. In the end, covering sports is really about covering people." "The hours are long, the work is hard and the pay is terrible," Horrigan said of life as a reporter. "But, at the end of the day, you go home knowing you did the right thing." The 2005 awards to Stylus staff members include: Best Overall Newspaper; Division 3, First Place Editorial Writing Feature Writing Sports Writing In-Depth News Reporting Investigative Reporting Regular Column Sports Column Entertainment Review News Photography Feature Photography Sports Photography Information Graphic Page One Design Editorial Page Sports Page Photo Page Feature Page --------------------------------- University Resources |