Daily Egyptian wins 22 awards at Illinois College Press Association competition

Jamilah lewis

Jlewis@dailyegyptian com

The Daily Egyptian brought home 22 awards at the annual Illinois College Press Association competition for 2023.

Managing Editor of the Daily Egyptian, Annie Hammock, said she’s most proud of winning second place in general excellence in print and third place in general excellence on the web. She said ICPA is always a great experience and a good time to connect with colleagues.

“A chance for real bonding between team members and learning from experts on things like artificial intelligence in journalism and using correct pronouns to reflect the diversity of our sources,” she said.

Hammock said students worked hard for their awards.

“I’m thrilled for all the students who were honored,” Hammock said. “They are a terrific staff of hardworking, caring journalists and it shows in the stories they write, the designs they make and the photos they take.

She said the DE received great information like customizing newsletters, which the paper has discussed adding.

In the future, Hammock said she’d like to be able to bring more students if they can obtain the funds for as many people as possible to get to experience the conference.

The DE and its staff won a variety of awards - from sports photo editor Lylee Gibbs winning first place in sports photo, sports reporter Brandyn Wilcoxen winning first place in sports game and news stories, and staff reporter Daniel

Bethers winning first place in headline writing.

DE Editor-in-Chief Sophie Whitten said the team was able to get a lot out of ICPA this year with engaging sessions such as an editor’s roundtable discussing issues in today’s newsrooms.

“We also had the opportunity to have our paper critiqued by a managing editor from another paper,” Whitten said. “We were given great feedback about ways we can improve.”

Whitten said she’s grateful to attend ICPA for her third year with the DE. Journalism alum Steve Warnelis funded the experience for members of the editorial board for the past three years, although in 2021 the conference was held by Zoom.

“It is in a big part thanks to Steve Warnelis who has sponsored our trip to Chicago,” Whitten said. “We continually learn so much from the conference and I am excited to see future DE journalists attend years to come.”

A diverse range of topics connected to media production and creating a health networking environment for potential collaborations with other schools is something ICPA does well, Whitten said.

“ICPA does a good job of tackling relevant topics newspapers are covering and facing such as creating a diverse and inclusive environment in the newsroom or the relationship artificial intelligence may have with the future of journalism,” Whitten said. Whitten said being recognized for the work put into the paper makes her proud.

“We were given a lot of encouraging feedback that makes me excited for the remainder of my time as EIC,” Whitten said. “I think the DE is headed in a good direction and I am happy to be a part of it.”

News Editor Jamilah Lewis can be reached at jlewis@dailyegyptian.com