The Bulletin, Emporia State’s official campus newspaper, won six awards in the local Kansas Press Association 2021 contest.
The two first-place awards go to Katie Donnelly, managing editor and general studies major, and Lucas Lord, web editor and political science major. Donnelly won first place for her summer columns about contracting COVID.
“COVID was a really challenging experience that helped me learn a lot about the health and safety of others and a lot about my writing abilities,” Donnelly said.
Lord also won first place for the follow up video of Donnelly’s experience, “‘I was exposed by a coworker,’ COVID-19 and public housing.” Both Donnelly and Lord will be graduating this spring.
“Reporting through the pandemic has shown me what a reach our paper has and why it’s so important to create content that our readers will digest,” Lord said. “I’m happy to be expanding our multimedia presence and I'm glad that that's something people are interested in.”
The Bulletin also won one second-place award for editorial writing, and three third-place awards in headline writing, general news and front-page design.
The second place in editorial writing was for multiple editorials written by The Bulletin’s staff, and Donnelly won the third-place awards in headline writing and general news for her article about the water boil advisory last spring, “Just add water: Scarcity sends school scrambling.”
The last third-place award in front-page design went to Kalliope Craft, previous design editor and elementary education major, and Margaret Mellott, editor-in-chief and communication major.
“I'm pleased with the recognition The Bulletin received in the annual Kansas Press Association contest,” said Max McCoy, Bulletin adviser and professor of journalism. “I'm also proud of the staff's performance during their pandemic year, which brought nearly unprecedented challenges in news gathering and publication. Katie Donnelly and Lucas Lord did brilliant work, and Editor in Chief Margaret Mellott deserves special recognition for leading her staff through a difficult time. This was, we hope, a once-in-a-lifetime event, and the Bulletin staff rose to the occasion.”