The University's student newspaper, Hornet Tribune, had a banner year, winning both national and regional awards for its student journalists,
and for the newspaper's content and website.
The newspaper's general manager and advisor, Dr. Kenneth A. Dean, shared that the student-centered publication and its journalists
were awarded the national Columbia Scholastic Press Association's prestigious Silver Crown Award for the Hornet Tribune’s website.
“I was excited about all of our national and regional wins, but especially delighted
about the coveted Silver Crown Award we took home. We have all worked so very hard
over the last year to redesign the website in an effort to make it more user friendly
and attractive for our audience,” said Dean. “This upcoming year, we want to add more
multimedia features to the Hornet Tribune's website so next year we can win the Gold
Crown Award.”
The Hornet Tribune’s staff "placed" in a national competition sponsored by the Society of Collegiate
Journalism, the nation’s oldest student journalism honor society.
Dean explained that it was the first time ASU competed in this event and ASU was the
only Historically Black College or University (HBCU) involved in the competition.
The students’ advisor had thought that being the only HBCU participating in the national
contest, with the added fact that most of the staff this year were new students, made
the chances of winning an award “slim” at best, but the judges believed otherwise.
“I really did not expect us to place in this competition at all,” stated Dean. “Since
this was our first year of membership, I did not think that we would win, but to my
surprise and delight, we were not only ready, but we were winners.”
HORNET TRIBUNE WINS FOUR REGIONAL AWARDS
While attending the Southeast Journalism Conference at Troy University, a conference
that is composed of 31 member universities and colleges in the Southeast, the Hornet Tribune staff won four awards:
* Best Editorial
* Best Design
* Best Press Photograph
* Best Layout and Design.
“It felt good to hear Alabama State University's name called for four awards since
we were the only HBCU represented,” Dean said. “Next year we plan to enter into more
categories of competition and see exactly where we stack up.”
Dean believes that it is beneficial for student journalists to be involved in contests.
“It is very important for the staff members to participate in these kinds of competitions
so that they have an idea of how well their work compares to that of their peers who
will also be entering into the same industry,” stated Dean. “In addition, it helps
with camaraderie as students are allowed to interact with their fellow journalists
at other institutions of higher learning who are performing the same jobs as they
are doing here at Alabama State.”
Dean shared that the staff will compete in one more competition this summer, sponsored
by the Associated Collegiate Press, an organization made up of 275 college newspapers.
“This is one of the major ones,” he said. “We will be competing against universities
like UCLA, the University of Michigan, Harvard, Yale, Stanford and other well-known
universities. Our newspaper ‘placed’ in their awards in both 2021 and in 2023, and
we hope to do so again."
Dean said that winning all of the awards is due to the student staff's commitment
to excellence.
“With the exception of five members, we had a completely new staff this year, and
despite their never having competed before, they were able to make their mark in a
big positive way,” Dean said. “Now that we have 15 staff members who are returning
to the newspaper in the Fall, I believe that we will do very well this next year.”