State press association names former editor ‘journalist of the year’
The Daily Gamecock was named the state’s best college newspaper by the South Carolina Press Association Friday as it won a record 31 awards for its work in 2012.
The newspaper took the top staff and individual awards — general excellence and collegiate journalist of the year for former Editor-in-Chief Colin Campbell — at the association’s annual collegiate meeting at Claflin University in Orangeburg.
The (Clemson University) Tiger took second place for general excellence in the over-5,000 circulation category, and The (Winthrop University) Johnsonian placed third.
“These awards reflect the hard work that we put into our paper and the everyday dedication to making a generally excellent product,” said Kristyn Sanito, the paper’s current editor-in-chief.
The Daily Gamecock also won 14 first-place awards for its daily coverage, social media use, photography and design. The newspaper swept two categories: editorial writing and use of Twitter.
On The Daily Gamecock’s editorial side, Campbell won first-place recognition for a news story; Campbell and Michael Lambert for editorial writing; Isabelle Khurshudyan for a sports story; Tyler Simpson for an arts and entertainment story; and the newspaper’s staff for its 2012 political coverage, use of Twitter, Facebook page and website.
In photography, multimedia and design, Andrew Askins won for a first-place photograph; Chris Brown for page one design; Paul Critzman III and Sam Snelgrove for a multimedia story; Richard Pearce for a sports photograph; Tucker Prescott for a single advertisement; Austin Price for a specialty page design and an illustration or informational graphic.
Last year, the newspaper was ranked No. 14 in the nation by the Princeton Review, its highest-ever ranking, after taking 17 press association awards, itself a record.
“I think it’s in a great place right now,” Campbell said. “It’s got really great people who are well-positioned not only to continue its tradition of excellence but to make it even better.”
The Gamecock’s recent accomplishments include a new website, smartphone application and training program and a partnership with SGTV that has improved its multimedia offerings, but Campbell emphasized that its focus was still on the content it produces daily.
“I would say the accomplishments are the journalism we put out together, from all the sections,” Campbell said. “When you flip back through the papers from the past year, there’s a lot to be proud of from everyone.”