Texas A&M Student Media was recognized at the 2021 Texas Intercollegiate Press Association, or TIPA, virtual awards.
Last year was a big year for student journalists everywhere figuring out how to report on historical events such as the Black Lives Matter protests as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. After a year of reporting in a global health crisis, journalists in student media have adapted to the changes brought onto them by COVID-19.
A&M Student Media general manager Doug Pils said there were many challenges students had to overcome with reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Having to adapt to working online, Pils said the staff had to find new ways to communicate with each other and their readers.
“It is very satisfying to see the hard work that they put in be recognized,” Pils said. “It was a different time for everybody, obviously, around the state; all student media outlets were trying to figure out different ways to do things while still providing new content for readers and listeners.”
The Battalion was honored for its newspaper, its Maroon Life magazine and its new podcast, The Batt Signal. Editor-in-chief and journalism junior Brady Stone led The Battalion’s team to receive its 21 awards while also receiving an Honorable Mention Reporter of the Year award himself.
“Still performing well under these circumstances makes the awards so much better,” Stone said. “Getting some of the same awards that we get every year are so much better this year because of everything going on.”
The opinion desk at The Battalion swept first and second place at the awards with two stories that were very personal to the writers. Receiving first place was opinion desk editor and computer science graduate student Joshua Howell with a story about his brother being injured while attending a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin last summer.
In addition to the first place award, political science senior Sam Somogye took second place with a piece about his mother’s experience with opioid addiction. Howell said it was an honor getting to see one of the opinion desk writers honored for such a touching piece.
“I was rooting for Sam. I thought ‘The Highs and Lows’ was a great piece,” Howell said. “It is a little validating as an editor for a group of people to say, ‘You guys get first and second place.’”
Head page designer and journalism sophomore Cori Eckert was honored with the First Place Designer of the Year award for her work in designing print editions of The Battalion as well as Maroon Life magazines. Eckert said she planned to pass on her legacy by helping to develop a design team staff.
“I was really shocked,” Eckert said. “I was obviously really happy, and I FaceTimed my parents, who were the first people that I told.”
Stone, who is a former head page designer, said he is proud of Eckert for her award in design.
The Eckleburg Project and Aggieland Yearbook were also honored at the awards. New to Student Media, The Eckleburg Project finished second in overall excellence for college literary magazines while the Aggieland Yearbook received honorable mention for their 2020 cover.
Below is a full list of awards won by The Battalion:
Newspaper – Honorable Mention to The Battalion staff
Designer of the Year – First Place to Cori Eckert
Reporter of the Year – Honorable Mention to Brady Stone
Overall Design, Newspaper – Third Place to Cori Eckert and Brady Stone
Overall Design, Web - Third Place to thebatt.com
Cover Design General Magazine – First Place to Gabrielle Shreve and Cori Eckert
Feature Page/Spread Design – First Place to Cori Eckert (pg. 8)
General Column – First Place to Joshua Howell, Second Place to Sam Somogye
Sports Page/Spread Design – First Place to Brady Stone and Cori Eckert (pg. 4-7)
Podcast – First and Second Place to Brady Stone, Camryn Lang, Mitchell Beddingfield and Annie Wells for “The Batt Signal”
Breaking News Photo – Second Place to Meredith Seaver
Special Edition Design, Print – Second Place to Brady Stone and Cori Eckert
General News Multimedia Story – Third Place to Brady Stone, Meredith Seaver and Vatsal Modgil
Illustration – Honorable Mention to Gabrielle Shreve
Cartoon Strip/Panel – Honorable Mention to Cheryl Cruz
Photo Story – Honorable Mention to Madison Guy
Sports Feature Photo – Honorable Mention to Samantha Mahler
Static Information Graphic – Honorable Mention to Rebecca Sloane