Arrow staff and mass media students win more than 20 awards at MCMA conference

Staff members of the Southeast Missouri State University Arrow attended the Missouri College Media Association (MCMA) Conference, where they won 23 awards across 16 categories.

The event was April 8 and 9 at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.

Arrow staff members submitted their work for 35 awards and won eight first places, four seconds, five thirds and four honorable mentions, as well as the coveted Journalist of the Year award, which went to Nicolette Baker, features and copy editor.

Arrow co-adviser Kate Stepaniuc said she is proud of the students.

"Our students work hard, and it is a testament to the work that they do and the effort that they put into their work," she said.

Individuals who won awards are:

• Baker -- Journalist of the Year, first place Photo Page, first place Feature Page, second place Investigative Reporting, honorable mention News Writing and honorable mention Feature Page
• Anna Estes -- first place Photo Page and first place Feature Page
• Alisha Reisenbichler -- first place Story Illustration, first place Photo Page, first place Feature Page and honorable mention Feature Page
• Jackson Bradshaw -- first place Creative Film Festival for short film "Untitled Self Portrait"
• Jasmine Jones -- first place Investigative Reporting and second place in the Creative Film Festival for short film "Sometimes"
• Ciara Potter -- first place Feature Photography and third place Feature Page
• Lucas Irizarry -- second and third place Page One Design
• Nathaniel Henley -- third place Creative Film Festival for short film "Drukqs"
• Tabatha Jeaux -- third place Creative Film Festival for short film "Drukqs"
• April Styer -- third place Feature Page
• Cynthia Wallman -- third place Feature Page
• Noelle Williams -- third place Video and honorable mention Video
• Justin Trovillion -- honorable mention Sports Writing.

Journalist of the Year is an award given to one person in the state. To win this award, Baker submitted letters of recommendation, multiple articles she's written and a personal statement. Baker is the second SEMO student to win this award.

"It was the best feeling, seeing the last four years come up in a material thing that I can hold and seeing it all come to fruition is amazing, and I am very proud of my team for their support and all the things that they do. I'm really honored," Baker said.

Tamara Buck, co-adviser of the Arrow for the past 10 years and former Arrow editor-in-chief, said the awards validate the students' efforts.

"I like to see my individual students nominated and winning awards. I like to see the recognition and visibility that it provides the program, as well as the Arrow, because I think it's an assessment of our multimedia journalism program," Buck said.

The Arrow staff also won awards as a group, including first place for Campus Engagement/Promotions and Special Section or Supplement; second place for In-Depth News Reporting and Sweepstakes; and third place for Special Section or Supplement and Website.

Nathan Gladden, editor-in-chief of the Arrow, was named president of MCMA for the 2022-2023 school year.

"I know how much work we put in on a day-to-day on everything we come out with, and I think [winning these awards is] more validation of the staff that I run and my work that we put into the paper. It's a really nice thing to see that," Gladden said. "It was a really awesome moment to see Nicolette win Journalist of the Year. That was really cool, and I think for us, it was really cool to win best overall newspaper in Division II."

Next year's conference will be hosted on SEMO's campus and will be organized by Gladden and Stepaniuc, as Buck will step down as the Arrow adviser at the end of the Spring 2022 semester.