'RaiderView' Earns 11 Awards for Outstanding Journalism

Members of the RaiderView staff at the 2010 Kentucky Intercollegiate Press Association
Conference. Front row, from left; Tiffany Berger of Burkesville, Ky., and Ashley Hampton
of Herndon, Ky. Back row, from left: Jeremy Fothergill of Louisville, Ky., Mary Beth Jewell
of Canmer, Ky., Leslie Moore of Campbellsville, Ky., Jerena McGinnis of Monticello, Ky. 

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- Members of RaiderView, the Lindsey Wilson College student newspaper, recently won 11 awards in statewide competition at the annual Kentucky Intercollegiate Press Association Conference, held in Lexington, Ky.

"The students work long hours to produce the newspaper, so I think the awards help to validate their efforts," said David Goguen, associate professor of journalism and RaiderView adviser. "The current staff is a dedicated core of students and one of the most selfless staffs I've ever worked with."

RaiderView Editor Mary Beth Jewell, a senior from Canmer, Ky., took second place in the on-demand copy-editing competition. She also received a first-place award for sports page layout and a third-place award for a personality profile.

Leslie Moore, RaiderView features editor and a sophomore from Campbellsville, Ky., won second place in the on-demand news writing competition. She also won a second-place award in the personality profile category.

The on-demand competition features the state's best student journalists in competition against each other, Goguen said. Winners receive a monetary award.

"I've often felt that the on-demand writing and editing competition is the best way to judge raw journalistic talent," Goguen said. "The work is judged anonymously, and there's no editor or adviser who can influence the work. It's just a straight-forward contest."

Placing among the best in on-demand competition is becoming a tradition for LWC student-journalists. Last year, LWC senior Kyrie Gialdini captured a first-place award in the copy-editing contest. 

"Because we're a small school, we're able to provide more attention to our student journalists," Goguen said. "We're able to work together to develop potential and help them realize their goals."

In other competition, winners included: Jeremy Fothergill of Louisville, Ky., second place in Sports Feature; Jared Criswell of Monticello, Ky., second and third places, Commentary; Jerena McGinnis of Monticello, third place, Analyses and Special Reports; Crystal Wright of Greensburg, Ky., third place, Investigative Reporting; and Adam Cecil, third place, Sports Feature.

"We're obviously very proud of these student journalists and what they've achieved," said Goguen. "Our goal here is to help students build professional portfolios and prepare them to be effective and responsible media professionals. I think winning some awards definitely helps them in that regard."