The Associated Collegiate Press announced the results of its semi-annual Clips & Clicks contest on Monday, with Texas A&M Student Media winning first place overall.
This is the fourth consecutive semester Student Media took home first place and the second year in a row where it earned the Sweepstakes trophy, given to the publication with the highest overall ranking for that year.
The contest examined work published by The Battalion, Maroon Life and Aggieland Yearbook from Dec. 7, 2023 to May 1, 2024. Spencer O’Daniel, Associate Director of Student Media, called the content from the spring “absolutely dynamic.”
“As an adviser, you have to be pretty excited about placing in so many different categories with all fields of writing, design, and photography,” O’Daniel said. “You have an idea of the veterans who likely will place, but get really excited when new staffers earn their first award and it’s a confidence-builder heading into this year.”
A large portion of award recipients were photographers and designers, with Student Media placing in every photojournalism category — twice in News Photo and three times in Sports Photo — and all design categories but one.
“The photo desk, a centralized desk for all three publications, clearly has been one of the strengths of Texas A&M Student Media for quite some time,” O’Daniel said. “This desk has some of the most enthusiastic and driven students I’ve worked with in my first year here at A&M. Our graphics team continues to push the envelope with amazing newspaper covers, award-winning spreads in Maroon Life, and even our social media graphics really have taken the next step in visual quality.”
Outside of visual media, writers from the sports, opinion and news desks of The Battalion also earned accolades. Isabella Garcia, an opinion writer whose article won third place, said she still can’t quite believe she won.
“When I first started writing for The Battalion, I felt like there was a big disconnect between what I wanted to say and what content was considered publishable,” Garcia said. She claims former opinion editor Ryan Lindner played a large part in helping her connect to her audience. “I love to quote Ryan, ‘No one wants to read about 200-year-old French philosophers, Isa.’ After having every other piece scrapped last fall, I made it a priority to blend issues I think are important with identifiable facets of culture everyone can understand. This piece is what I think to be my best blend so far and I’m so grateful to have been given a voice. All I hope to achieve with my writing is a moment of contemplation, both for the readers and myself about what we truly believe.”
O’Daniel said the credit for the contest performance lies entirely with the staff members who created the work, describing them as putting in the time, studying the competition and continually adding tools to their “journalism tool belt.”
“I’m super excited for what’s to come this school year with The Battalion, Maroon Life and Aggieland Yearbook,” O’Daniel said. “When you work with talented, driven, creative students who are great people and teammates, that’s what makes me excited on my drive into work each morning!”
To learn more on how you can support the award-winning, independent student publications, consider a donation to Texas A&M Student Media and the student media experience.
Click on each award below to see the winning work.