May 4, 2023
Kansas Collegiate Media (KCM) Conference honors work created by students at the two-year, four-year public and four-year private collegiate levels.
Ten JCCC students recently earned eight awards for their work published online by The Campus Ledger at the 2023 Kansas Collegiate Media spring conference, held April 16-17, 2023, in Wichita, Kansas.
The students are part of the staff of the JCCC student newsroom, which was rebranded as the Student Media Center (SMC) in August 2022. The newsroom had been on hiatus prior to the relaunch. The SMC is home to The Campus Ledger, the online JCCC news site; CavMedia, a rebranded video news/feature program; and Cavalier Corner, a podcast that had previously been produced by Student Life and Leadership.
SMC staff and JCCC student classroom reporters, photographers and videographers provide original content that appears on the website regularly and is promoted on the SMC’s social media accounts: @thecampusledger on Instagram and Twitter and CampusLedger on Facebook.
Awards Recognize High-Caliber Student Work
Notably, The Ledger earned three awards for the Photo Story/Gallery Online category — it took first and second place in that category, which included entries from all two-year and four-year private newspapers.
An additional first-place award was earned in the Breaking/General News category, which included entries from all two-year newspapers, magazines and yearbooks.
First Place Awards
- Breaking/General News Writing: Henry Gamber, “Dental Hygiene students provide low cost cleanings” (combined category of two-year newspaper, magazine and yearbook)
- Photo Story/Gallery (online): Sherry Osborn and Tracy Q, “JCCC All Employee Picnic returns” (combined category of two-year and four-year private newspapers)
Second Place Awards
- Photo Story/Gallery (online): Thos Brewer, “’Adorned’ Where Fashion and Art Intersect” (combined category of two-year and four-year private newspapers)
- Profile Writing: Victor Monterroza, “Honoring and holding onto your culture” (two-year newspapers)
- Sports Game/News Writing: Jake Twigg, “Men’s Soccer sends Southeast Storm packing with 4-0 shutout, improves to 10-4 on season” (two-year newspapers)
Honorable Mentions
- Digital Storytelling: Silas Lohr, Emily Baker and Arthur Newby, “United States Rep. Sharice Davids and Kansas State Sen. Ethan Corson visit JCCC” (combined category of two-year, four-year private and four-year public newspapers)
- Feature Writing: Arien Roman Rojas, “Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Chanel galore!” (two-year newspapers)
- Photo Story/Gallery (online): Tracy Q and Emily Baker, “JCCC hosts Annual Fall Festival” (combined category of two-year and four-year private newspapers)
The JCCC Student Media Center
The SMC is staffed by a paid student staff who publish news, features, sports, opinion pieces, videos, and a podcast on The Campus Ledger, the official student-produced news website. New content is uploaded regularly throughout the fall and spring semesters. The Ledger aims to inform, educate and entertain the campus community.
In addition to being an open forum for students, The Campus Ledger is also a learning lab for students interested in journalism as a career. Student staff members work in a converged newsroom with journalism students and student volunteers to produce multimedia content that includes written stories, photographs, videos, TV programs and podcasts.
SMC editorial leadership (all from Kansas except where noted):
- Fall 2022: The Campus Ledger editor-in-chief was Henry Gamber, of Kansas City, Missouri.
- 2022-2023: CavMedia executive producer is Silas Lohr of Overland Park.
- 2022-2023: The Campus Ledger news editor is Abby Rinehart, of Humboldt; features editor is Eliana Klathis, of Overland Park; photo editor is Tracy Q, of Overland Park; and managing editor is Stephanie Barrows, of Lawrence.
- 2022-2023: social media manager is Jourdan Gundersen, of Lawrence.
- The SMC coordinator is adjunct professor Susan Dawson, of Overland Park.
A full SMC staff list is available on The Campus Ledger website.
###