Student newspaper snags five awards in statewide competition

WINSTON-SALEM – The Campbell Times won two out of three of the top prizes for its photographs in the 2011 newspaper competition sponsored by North Carolina College Media Association and held at Winston-Salem State University.

NCCMA announced the winners Feb. 18 at an all-day conference where five Campbell Times journalists attended and adviser Michael Ray Smith presented a photography workshop to nearly 100 students and advisers.

At the award’s presentation, Michal Hatley won first place and Joanna D’Ancona won third place. The Campbell Times won other awards including third place for news writing for editor’s Molly Hudson’s exclusive coverage of the campus lockdown and an interview with the man who caused the commotion. The NCCMA host said nothing about the other news entries but singled Hudson’s work out saying, “That was a really interesting story.”

Sierra Smith won third place for features and the newspaper won honorable mention in overall excellence.

The Campbell Times competes against Wake Forest University, UNC’s smaller campuses, Western Carolina University, Elon University and schools that size including all the other Baptist-affiliated schools. Universities such as Elon attracts nearly 1,000 communication students and its faculty and staff number about 60 people. Campbell University communication’s program numbers less than 10 faculty and staff including adjunct faculty and attracts about 100 students.

Full-time faculty include Dr. J. Dean Farmer, chair, and Dr. Edward Johnson, who teaches photography and other communication classes. Most of the communication studies students consider themselves either generalists or interested in some branch of public relations.

Attending this year’s conference included editors Hudson, Louis Duke, Taylor RaeAnne Smith and writers Jonathan Bushhouse and Valerie Procopio and Samantha Gabeler.