The Clarion staff won 18 awards from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation’s Collegiate Better Newspaper Contest, including eight first-place awards, for work published from Jan. 1, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2021.
Members of the Madison College student newspaper staff were presented the awards during a virtual ceremony on April 13.
Mackenzie Moore, former news editor at the newspaper, won first place in the feature story category and first place in arts and entertainment story category. The winning articles were a feature story about newscaster Christine Bellport and an article about the pandemic’s impact on live music performers.
Copy editor Hannah Dotzler won first place in column writing for her article reacting to the historic nature of Kamala Harris becoming the vice president.
Former staff member Mandy Scheuer won first place in breaking news for an article about Madison College donating supplies and loaning equipment to help hospitals battle the pandemic.
Former sports editor Christina Gordon won first place in the sports story category for an article about the college’s baseball team being put on probation for a year.
Current news editor Eimy Gonzalez won first place in feature photography for a photo she took of a person creating a mural on state street last summer.
Graphic designer Maia Lathrop won first and second place in the infographic category with infographics on human trafficking and the college’s textbook rental process.
Staff member Steven Andriantsiratahina won first place in the advertising category for his ad promoting the Yahara Journal’s Scary Story and Artwork Contest.
Managing editor Chris Bird won second place in breaking news for an article about the child care center moving to a new facility. He also took second place in editorial writing for an editorial about the activity of federal agents in Portland, Ore.
A second-place award in the use of multimedia category was presented to Editor in Chief Anica Graney, Arts Editor Hailey Griffin and photographer Diya Basima for their work on the story about the Yahara Journal’s equity mural project.
Opinion editor Kaleia Lawrence took third in the feature story category for a story about a former student becoming a Harry Truman Scholar.
Graney added another recognition, taking third in the sports story category with an article about a two-sport athlete at Madison College.
Staff member Ezra Peters won third place in column writing for a column he wrote about the reaction to the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show.
Copy editor Paige Zezulka received an honorable mention for public affairs reporting for an article about why it is important to complete the census. Former editor Tessa Morhardt won honorable mention in feature photography for one of her Chef Series photos.
Finally, the newspaper staff won honorable mention in the general excellence category.