SEMO newspaper picks up national, statewide awards

The Southeast Missouri State University newspaper, the Arrow, recently won 16 awards in a statewide competition.

The college newspaper won five first place awards for feature page, photo page, video, campus engagement/promotions and best overall newspaper.

The staff won the best overall newspaper ahead of student papers at Lindenwood University, Missouri State University, Saint Louis University, University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Missouri-St. Louis, University of Central Missouri and Washington University.

A month earlier, the Arrow staff received a second-place award in a national contest, winning the "Best News Delivery" category for its 2016 election coverage. It received the David L. Adams Apple Award at the College Media Association's spring convention New York City.

"I'm always excited to see our students' efforts recognized, but as the smallest school in our division, it's especially nice to win the Best Overall award," said Dr. Tamara Zellers Buck, faculty adviser to the Arrow and multimedia journalism coordinator in Southeast's Department of Mass Media in a news release. "This recognition is proof for faculty, staff and students that we're giving our students everything they need to excel in the professional world. Our journalism option's profile is rising on the state level, and that is largely due to the Arrow's success in recent years. Each award helps to demonstrate the curriculum is working."

In addition to these awards, earlier this week, the Arrow put out a special report on sexual assaults on campus that raised serious issues about an important topic.

Congratulations to the Arrow team. The journalism students on campus are learning by doing, and doing it very well when compared to peers across the state and nation.