Monday, Mar 2, 2009
Pictured with the national “Best of Show” trophy and certificate are (from left) Gillian Frew ’11, Pioneer’s director of writing; Kim Sommers ’11, editor-in-chief; Logan Aimone, executive director of Associated Collegiate Press and Molly Smith ’11, city editor.
Whitman College’s student newspaper’s Web site recently won national “Best of Show” honors — placing ahead of much larger schools such as the University of California Berkley and University of Miami — at the annual convention of the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP).
The Whitman College Pioneer also received another honor. Its new podcast earned second place at ACP’s convention, held Feb. 26 through March 1 in San Diego, Calif.
The new podcast is a weekly news show created through a partnership between The Pioneer and KWCW, Whitman’s student radio station.
Kim Sommers, the Pioneer’s editor-in-chief, said she and the two other staff members in attendance — Gillian Frew, director of writing and Molly Smith, news editor — were shocked upon hearing the Web site won.
But the Pioneer’s staff had heard good things about the site even prior to the awards ceremony. Sommers said that at a convention workshop where various Web sites were critiqued it was clear that those doing the critiquing saw the Pioneer’s design as “a lot more sophisticated” than other sites’.
A complete list of contest results can be viewed on the ACP’s Web site.
The Pioneer’s Web site was recently redesigned and launched in January 2009, with a goal being that it could be an appealing homepage for Whitman students.
Web designers used a fresh Wordpress design, creating a place for photo galleries, a campus calendar, student forums, featured videos, and athlete blogs, among other interactive multimedia elements.
A panel of professionals judged Web site entries on the sites’ general design, navigation, writing/editing, content, graphics and interactivity.
The convention featured guest speakers from The San Diego Union Tribune and The LA Weekly, among others, and gave students opportunities to attend journalism workshops and to network with professionals and peers.
More than 900 student journalists from 130 colleges and universities nationwide were in attendance. This was the first year Whitman participated in the convention.
“It was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Sommers said about the convention. Sommers said she was able to network with many journalists and getting ideas of “how their newsrooms work and their organizations are structured was invaluable.” With the information learned, she said she plans to make a presentation to the Pioneer editorial board about ways to develop the business side of the paper and increase advertising.
Sommers said she hoped the conference would become annual tradition for Pioneer staff.
Aa generous gift and devoted support from Whitman alumna Megan Salzman Medica, ’81, and John Medica funded the Web site redesign and enabled the three Pioneer staff members to attend the conference.
"John and I are delighted at the award — a fantastic achievement by the staff and well-deserved; it is indeed a superb Web site," stated Megan Medica in an e-mail.
The prize-winning podcast airs bi-weekly on Fridays and Mondays at 5 p.m. and can be heard on KWCW 90.5 FM or on The Pioneer’s Web site as a podcast.
