Despite the 3 a.m. wake-up call, our excitement was high as we boarded the plane for New Orleans. Our team had spent the last few weeks working overtime, creating a special edition 20-page paper for competition at the Fall National College Media Convention.
As we walked into registration, hundreds of student journalists surrounded us. Newspapers upon newspapers sat on display, ready to be browsed through for inspiration. Our operation felt small amidst a sea of papers.
Throughout the convention, we met other students walking the same path as us, heard from professionals in the field and received feedback on our content. In between all of that, we squeezed in as much time as we could exploring the city. We could not leave Louisiana without trying some of NOLA’s most famous dishes – beignets, gumbo and po’ boys.
While the food and culture were amazing, what we really came for was scheduled for the last day.
We had pulled out all the stops, with many staff members taking on more work than normal. Our designers spent their weekend cooped up in the newsroom so we could spend as much time perfecting the newspaper as possible. In previous years, The Antelope has only submitted content for the Best of Show Newspaper category. We entered four categories this year, which was a big win for us.
Our newspaper placed 4th against campuses of 15,000 students or less and our website placed 7th. While to others they may just seem like another award, to us, the outcome is a physical representation of what we strive to do at The Antelope: produce high-quality content for the UNK campus.
These awards are the culmination of months of work for us, as well as years of work for The Antelope’s alumni. The Antelope as it stands now is a result of all of those who have come before us. It is our goal to continually grow and be a reliable source for our readers.
The convention was inspiring, showing our team how many other student journalists are out there. While we are just one small school in the middle of Nebraska, it is clear to us that what we are doing matters. Investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell made a powerfully true statement during his keynote session at the convention.
“Student journalism is journalism.”
As with any field, being a journalist comes with challenges. But we believe in the importance of The Antelope and our mission.
Thank you, Lopers, for sticking with us all these years. As those in our field tend to say, “Readers make the news.”
We’re not going anywhere.
