Society of Professional Journalists Names Ithacan Website Best in the Northeast

 The Society of Professional Journalists has named The Ithacan’s website the Best Affiliated Newspaper Website in the Northeast Region for 2016. The website received the first place Mark of Excellence Award at the SPJ Region 1 conference April 8 at John Jay College of CUNY in New York.

The website now goes on to compete against the winners in the other 11 SPJ regions for the national Mark of Excellence Award. That award will be presented at the SPJ national convention Sept. 7–9 in Anaheim, California. The SPJ is the largest professional organization of reporters and editors in the country.

In addition, the Ithacan’s print newspaper was honored as a Finalist in the Best All-Around Nondaily Newspaper category.

(Shown in photo, from left: Ithacan Webmaster Evan Sobkowicz ’17 and Editor-in-Chief Kayla Dwyer’17 with the awards.)

New York Press Association Names The Ithacan Best College Newspaper in New York State

The Ithacan has been named the Best College Newspaper in New York State for 2016 by the New York Press Association. The award, the NYPA's top collegiate honor, was announced April 8 at the organization's annual convention at the Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Ithacan Editor-in-Chief Kayla Dwyer ’17, Webmaster Evan Sobkowicz ’17 and Proofreader Ben Gaynor ’17 attended the convention and accepted the award on behalf of the paper. The award was for work produced during calendar year 2016 (Kira Maddox ’16, spring editor-in-chief; Kayla Dwyer ’17, fall editor-in-chief). 

 In addition to being named the best overall college paper in the state, The Ithacan and its staff members received the following awards:

Awards for the Paper

First Place for General Excellence

First Place for Editorials

First Place for Sports Coverage

Second Place for Design

Third Place for Website 

Awards for Individuals

First Place for News Story — Sophia Tulp ’19 and Faith Meckley ’18

Third Place for News Story — Lauren Murray ’18 and Matt Hornick ’18

Honorable Mention for News Story — Vinica Weiss ’17

First Place for Feature Story — Faith Meckley ’18

Third Place for Feature Story — Mary Ford ’17

First Place for Photography — Yana Mazurkevich ’18

Third Place for Photography — Caitie Ihrig ’18

Ithaca College Publications Board Names Aidan Quigley ’18 2017–18 Ithacan Editor in Chief

The Ithaca College Board of Student Publications has selected junior Aidan Quigley ’18 as the 2017–18 editor in chief of The Ithacan. Quigley was appointed to the position by Diane Gayeski, dean of the Roy H. Park School of Communications, at the conclusion of the board’s annual meeting and candidate interview session on April 3. 
Quigley is a journalism major and politics minor from Trumbull, Connecticut, who has previously served as a reporter, assistant news editor, news editor and managing editor for the paper over the past three years. A Park Scholar, he is spending the Spring 2017 semester studying in Washington, D.C., where he is also interning as a breaking news intern at Politico. He has previously interned a reporter at the Westbury (Conn.) Republican-American and as a Rapid Response Team intern at the Christian Science Monitor in Boston. This summer he will intern at Newsweek in New York City.
Among his stated goals for The Ithacan are the enhancement of the paper’s digital-first online strategies and increased collaboration with other Park School student media. He will officially assume the editor in chief position on May 4.

High CSPA Honors for The Ithacan

From left: Ithacan Assistant Multimedia Editor Connor Duffy,
Assistant Life & Culture Editor Jake Leary, CSPA Executive
Director Edmund Sullivan, Assistant Photo Editor Connor Lange,
and Assistant Multimedia Editor Matt Mahoney at the Crown
Award Presentation in New York on March 12.

The Ithacan had a strong showing at the spring National College Media Convention in New York City, March 11–13. The paper was awarded the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Silver Crown for overall excellence for 2015–16 (Kira Maddox ’16, editor-in-chief), as well as the 2017 “Apple Award” for Best in Show in the newspaper category, presented by the College Media Association.
The Crown Award was in the “hybrid” category, which evaluates entries on the basis of the effectiveness with which they combine their print and online publications. The Best in Show Award was based on three issues of the paper submitted from the 2016–17 academic year (Kayla Dwyer ’17, editor-in-chief).

Meeting the Family

At our last Ithacan editorial board meeting before leaving for the spring National College Media Convention in New York last weekend, I told the board that I would be bringing the current editors who would be participating in the conference  to “meet the family” — namely our New York Ithacan alumni — at our annual spring dinner. I compared it to an extended family reunion where you meet a whole bunch of cool, interesting cousins you never knew you had.

From left: Jake Leary, Scott McDermott,
Graham Hebel, Fernando Ferraz
and Connor Lange.

And a family reunion is what it always feels like. This year’s group spanned more than two decades, from the class of 1997 to the current freshmen attending the conference. Forty of us turned out on Monday night despite the impending blizzard scheduled to start at midnight. The photo section was well-represented, with eight former and current editors present, including a rare appearance by Scott McDermott! And Jill Agostino stopped by — her first dinner with the New York crew since the Times moved her back to the city from D.C. (where our alumni are still missing her). 

Evin Billington, Miles Surrey,
Aaron Edwards and Frances Johnson

The alumni lineup consisted of Jill Agostino ’86, Nicolas Barajas ’08, Evin Billington ’16, Jaclyn Cataldi ’15, Jack Curran ’15, Jared Dionne ’13, William Earl ’09, Aaron Edwards ’12, Evan Falk ’09, Max Gillilan ’16, James Hawver ’07, Graham Hebel ’13, Frances Johnson ’16, Sami Khan ’02, Kira Maddox ’16, Scott McDermott ’97, Tucker Mitchell ’16, Casey Musarra ’11, Gillian Nigro ’14, Rachel Orlow ’13, Taylor Palmer ’14, Steven Pirani ’16, Matt Quintanilla ’07, Deepa Shah ’06, Elizabeth Sile ’11, Shawn Steiner ’13, Miles Surrey ’15, Andy Swift ’09, Andrew Weiser ’11, Jennifer Williams ’16, Stacey Coburn Williams ’07, Chloe Wilson ’14 and Vicky Wolak ’14.

Jim Hawver, Matt Quintanilla, Deepa
Shah and Stacey Coburn Williams

Current students who attended were Editor-in-Chief Kayla Dwyer ’17, Assistant Multimedia Editor Connor Duffy ’20, Photo Editor Fernando Ferraz ’17, Assistant Photo Editor Connor Lange ’19, Assistant Life & Culture Editor Jake Leary ’20 and Assistant Multimedia Editor Matt Maloney ’20.

Jack Curran, Gillian Nigro and Kira Maddox

Kayla Dwyer, Libby Sile and Bill Earl

It was terrific to see everyone, as always. Thank you to the good people at Heartland Brewery and Chophouse at on W. 43rd St., who made sure we had a good time, as they have for many years now. And special thanks to Deepa Shah, without whose organizational talents — and generosity — these events would be a lot more difficult to manage. 

Andrew Weiser, Casey Musarra
and Evan Falk

Shawn Steiner, Jennifer Williams
and Steve Pirani

Taylor Palmer and Chloe Wilson

The Daily Signal Fights for Recognition

In 2014, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, started its own journalism outlet, The Daily Signal, installing former Ithacan editor-in-chief Rob Bluey ’01 as editor-in-chief. Since then, Bluey has been arguing for the Signal’s legitimacy as a news source in the face of criticism by mainstream news organizations and others that it practices not journalism but partisan political advocacy. Here's the latest skirmish in that battle. 

Looking Good!

The designed pages from the March 2 issue of The Ithacan. 

The Return of the Alumni Blog!

It's back! Like a phoenix being reborn from the ashes, Dracula rising from the grave or Immanuel Kant awaking from his dogmatic slumbers, the Ithacan Alumni Blog is making its return after lying dormant for almost a year and a half. Very soon you'll be seeing news of the many Ithacan alumni making their marks on the world of media, politics, business and culture, as well as notes on the achievements of our current students as they gain the knowledge and skills that only The Ithacan can teach them. Watch this space for more.

Ithacan Website Named Best in New York State

But wait, there’s more ...

Evan Sobkowicz

In addition to the numerous awards presented to The Ithacan by the New York Press Association mentioned in an earlier post, the NYPA also named the Ithacan website the best in New York state. Congratulations to webmaster Evan Sobkowicz ’17 for his terrific website design and constant innovation. 

The Ithacan’s New Banner: Forever May It Wave

Editor-in-Chief Jack Curran, Managing
Editor Kira Maddox and the new banner.

Grace Clauss, our design editor, created this cool new banner to use at Ithaca Today and other events. Also, after years of deliberation, we finally agreed on a new tagline. “Accuracy, Independence, Integrity.” I think it sums up The Ithacan pretty well.

Kira Maddox Named Next Ithacan Editor-in-Chief

Junior journalism major Kira Maddox has been selected as the 2015–16 editor-in-chief of The Ithacan.
The Ithaca College Board of Student Publications interviewed Maddox and junior integrated marketing communications major Sabrina Knight on March 30 and recommended Maddox to Roy H. Park School of Communications Dean Diane Gayeski, who made the appointment.
Maddox began at the paper as a copy editor, then joined the editorial board as proofreader and, this year, as managing editor. In the latter two position, she has read and edited every story published in The Ithacan for the past two years. She will be the paper’s first managing editor to also serve as editor-in-chief.
In addition, she has interned at the Utica (N.Y.) Observer-Dispatch and will be interning at the Syracuse Media Group this summer. 

NYPA Once Again Names The Ithacan the Best College Newspaper in New York State

The Ithacan has once again been named the Best College Newspaper in New York State by the New York Press Association. The award, the NYPA’s top collegiate honor, was announced March 28 at the organization’s annual convention at the Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Ithacan Editor-in-Chief Jack Curran ’15, Managing Editor Kira Maddox ’16, Assistant Life & Culture Editor Mary Ford ’17, Multimedia Editor Alexis Forde ’17 and Chief Copy Editor Rachel Wolfgang ’17 attended the convention and accepted the award on behalf of the paper.

The award is for work produced during the calendar year 2014 (Megan Devlin ’14, spring editor-in-chief; Jack Curran ’15, fall editor in chief).

In addition to being named the best overall college paper in the state, The Ithacan and its staff members received the following awards:

Awards for the Paper 

• First Place for Best Sports Coverage
• First Place for Best Use of Social Media
• Second Place for General Excellence
• Second Place for Best Editorials, for “Pay Raise Reveals Disengagement,” February 6, 2014, “Survey Says: Tell Us Now,” February 13, 2014, and “Transparent SGA Puts Up Wall,” May 1, 2014.
• Third Place for Design

Awards for Individuals

• First Place for Best Feature Story — Steven Pirani ’16, for “Hot Pursuit,” September 11, 2014.
• Second Place for Best Photography — Caitie Ihrig ’18
• Third Place for Best Photography — Yana Mazurkevich ’18
• Third Place for Best News Story — Elma Gonzalez ’14, for “Rochon’s Compensation Outpaces Faculty Salaries,” January 30, 2014.
• Third Place for Best Column — Amelia Erikson ’16, for “Mental Illnesses Are Not Slang,” September 11, 2014, and “Personality Test Is Only a Novelty,” December 4, 2014.
• Honorable Mention for Best News Story — Jack Curran ’15, for “Millenials Facing Greater Competition in Labor Market,” November 6, 2014.

Amelia Erikson

Steven Pirani

Jack Curran

Caitie Ihrig and Yana Mazurkevich

Spring 2014 Sports Editor Steve Derderian, Fall 2014
Sports Editor Miles Surrey and current Sports Editor
Kristen Gowdy

More from Aaron Edwards

Former EIC Aaron Edwards ’12 just published a BuzzFeed piece on “Creating Editorial Process Before a Finished Product.” And yes, he manages to work Beyonce in there. 

Spring 2015 New York Ithacan Alumni Dinner

The spring National College Media Convention in New York brought current Ithacan students attending the conference together with our New York–area alumni for our annual dinner at Heartland Brewery on W. 43rd St. We had a great turnout, giving our alums a chance to catch up as well as to share their wisdom and experience with their current counterparts on the editorial board. 

From left, Taylor Palmer ’14, Chloe Wilson ’14, Proofreader Christie
 Citranglo,  Photo Editor Corey Hess, Michelle Boule, Alex Evans ’13,
Rachel Orlow ’13 and Shawn Steiner ’13.

From left, Chief Copy Editor Rachel Wolfgang, Graham Hebel ’13, Online
 News Editor Max Denning, Gillian Nigro ’14, Editor-in-Chief Jack Curran
 and Aaron Edwards ’12. 

From left, Nic Barajas ’08, Deepa Shah ’06, Matt Quintanilla ’07,
 Assistant News Editor Aidan Quigley, Assistant News Editor Natalie
 Shanklin, Erin Geismar ’09, Casey Musarra ’11, Vanessa Leong ’00
and Kelli B. Grant ’04.

From left, Assistant News Editor Jonathan Beck, Libby Sile 11, Casey
Musarra ’11 (again), Andrew Weiser ’11, Bill Earl ’09, Patrick Doyle and
Assistant Life & Culture Editor Mary Ford.

Ithacan Wins CSPA Gold Crown and Apple Award

From left, Assistant News Editor Natalie Shanklin, Online News Editor
Max Denning, Editor-in-Chief Jack Curran, Photo Editor Corey Hess,
Assistant Sports Editor Jon Beck and Assistant News Editor Aidan
 Quinn accepted theCSPA Gold Crown Award in New York City.

 The Ithacan was presented with a Gold Crown award by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association at the spring National College Media Convention on March 13 at the Sheraton Times Square Hotel in New York City. The Gold Crown awards are the highest honors presented by CSPA.

 The award was in the “hybrid” category, described as “a publication that works to combine their digital and print publications as one.” The award was for work produced during the 2013–14 academic year (Megan Devlin ’14, editor-in-chief).

 The judges’ commented that, “It’s so easy to find ‘must read’ stories in every issue of The Ithacan. The paper excels at campus news reporting on relevant topics. Substantive research and strong interviewing skills are evident throughout The Ithacan. Facts, stats, surveys, and infographics expand the coverage. Editorial leadership is evident on the ‘Opinion’ page. The tag line ‘at your fingertips’ introduces a reader-friendly digital site with diversified coverage on serious topics, such as racial inequality. The website has engaging bloggers who comment on everything from the minutiae of everyday college life to anthropomorphic advertising. Diversity is the key to The Ithacan’s success.”

 The Ithacan was one of only four newspapers in the country to win the Gold Crown in the “hybrid” category. The others were the Indiana Daily Student (Indiana University), The Iowa State Daily (Iowa State University) and the Rocky Mountain Collegian (Colorado State University).

From left, Hess, Quigley, Denning,
Beck and Shanklin with the latest
Apple in The Ithacan’s orchard.

 In addition, The Ithacan took the First Place Apple Award for Best Tweet and Third Place for Best Homepage in the convention’s on-site Best of Show awards at the March 14 closing session.

Founded in 1925, the CSPA is owned by Columbia University and operated as a program affiliated with its Graduate School of Journalism. The Crown Awards, first presented in 1982, are the organization's highest recognition of overall excellence.

Ithacan Ranked Gold Medalist in Annual CSPA Newspaper Critique

The Ithacan has been named a Gold Medalist for the 2013–14 academic year in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s annual college newspaper critique.

Among the judge’s comments, “Congratulations on publishing an outstanding print and digital newspaper and your Gold Medalist and All Columbian honors. You entertain, inform, practice enterprise journalism and serve as a student forum, all in an exceptional manner.”

Each year the CSPA evaluates member papers on overall content, news, depth reporting, features, opinion/editorial, sports, arts/entertainment, editing/headline writing, and design/graphics based on more than 150 specific criteria. This year the paper scored 963 on the critique’s 1,000-point scale. The CSPA consistently ranks The Ithacan as a Gold Medalist, its highest category. All Columbian Honors are given within a scorebook section when the sectional total reaches 95% or more of the possible points.

Ithacan Students Honored for Individual Work

Jennifer Williams, “Here Comes the Sun”

Five Ithacan students have been honored with 2014 Gold Circle Awards in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s annual competition honoring work by individuals in collegiate publications. The 2014 awards are for work produced during the 2013–14 academic year.  The individuals honored were:

• Jennifer Williams ’16, Second Place for Single Feature Photograph for “Here Comes the Sun” (The Ithacan, April 3, 2014)
• Gillian Nigro ’14, Certificate of Merit for News Writing for “Who's Your Daddy?” (The Ithacan, April 17, 2014)
• Jackie Eisenberg ’14, Certificate of Merit for General Feature Story for “Break Out” (The Ithacan, March 20, 2014)
• Corey Hess ’16, Certificate of Merit for Single Sports Photograph for “Who’s on First?” (The Ithacan, April 24, 2014)
• Durst Breneiser ’15, Certificate of Merit for Single Sports Photograph for ”Raising the Bar” (The Ithacan, December 12, 2013)

The 2014 competition attracted 11,407 entries.

Corey Hess, “Who’s on First?’

Durst Breneiser, “Raising the Bar”

Lauren DeCicca Shortlisted for “30 Under 30”

Lauren DeCicca ’11 made the 2015 shortlist of in the “30 Under 30” an annual ranking honoring talented young photographers under the age of 30. The competition is sponsored by IdeasTap, Magnum Photos and The Photography Show. Her work was featured in a September 2014 interview in The Ithacan.

Kevin McCall ’12 is Assistant SID at Marist

Former sports editor Kevin McCall ’12 is an assistant sports information director at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He has overseen publicity for seven of the Division I institution’s 23 varsity sports teams and created content for the Marist Athletics website since he began the position in September. Kevin had been interning in the New York Mets media relations department. 

Compelling Work from Aaron Edwards

In addition to producing digital news, Aaron Edwards ’12 has been busy reminding us what a talented writer and journalist he is. In December, his piece “Diversity: Don’t Talk About It, Be About It” was featured as part of the “Predictions for Journalism 2015” series on the Nieman Foundation’s NiemanLab site. And now “My Grandfather Rests on a Hill That Leads to Heaven” — his moving account of attending his grandfather’s funeral in Jamaica — has appeared on BuzzFeed. Check them out!