Communication Arts: The Stylus

The Park Stylus won the Missouri College Media Association Sweepstakes Award April 8th, the second time since 1984 the Park student newspaper has captured the statewide honor.

In all, the Stylus brought home 27 awards in 23 categories, winning first place in more than half the classifications judged. The awards were announced at the MCMA annual convention at the Doubletree Hotel in Kansas City, Mo.

Stylus staff members were awarded 12 first place honors, including first place for in-depth reporting and first place for investigative reporting. The in-depth reporting award was for a series of articles about the Burlington Northern coal train that derailed in downtown Parkville a year ago. The investigative reporting award was for a study by current editor Jeremy Walker of the amount of paper used by the college annually. The Stylus won first place in the special section category for its Halloween edition.

Sandy Bell, news editor, won first place for her work on the special section. Damian Blake, Stylus illustrator, won first place for nonpolitical/entertainment, and Ashley Rader also won first place for newswriting.

The newspaper won first and third place honors for newswriting. Rick Collins, current Stylus editor, received a first place honor for his regular column in addition to a first and third place honor in newswriting. Jeff Stapleton, a December 1999 graduate, won first place for news photography, feature photography and best photo page; second and third place for sports photography; and third place for feature photography. In all, Stapleton’s name appeared 17 times on the winner's list.

As editor of the 1998 Narva, Stapleton won the first awards garnered by the college in the newly created yearbook competition. The awards are especially significant because the yearbook competition is not divided into categories by institution size, so the Narva competed against all entries in the state. In the yearbook competition, Stapleton won first place in sports photography and honorable mention in sports section design.

The Sweepstakes Award is determined on a point system, combining all the awards won in divisional competition by the student newspaper, pitting Park against every student newspaper in the state. Park tied with The Chart of Missouri Southern State University, a Division 2 school, for the award with 70 points.

The contest is judged by journalists across the state in 33 towns and cities and organized by the Missouri Press Association.

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