After the Oklahoma Press Association, staff from The Trend gathered together to present their many award-winning works.
trend For the first time, the newspaper won eight awards in the Oklahoma Press Association’s (OPA) annual Better Newspaper contest. OPA is an organization that supports and advocates for Oklahoma’s 180 newspapers. The annual awards ceremony took place on Saturday, June 8, and brought together journalists from across the state to talk about the world of journalism. The event featured an awards ceremony to recognize journalists who have made significant contributions to the field.
The evening began with a networking reception. trendstaff engaged with journalists across the state, including Connor Choate. Marietta Monitor Jason Corrington Tulsa WorldFree professional headshots were provided and large format posters displayed all the winning images for people to view.
trend Nine writers participated, including editor-in-chief Emily Loughridge and managing editor Gary Jackson, senior writers Matthew Yoakum, Gabi Merhen and Harry Cracknell, photographer Laura Barrios Baldi, contributing artist Thomas Buchanan and contributing writers Elian Kenny and Cathy Srock.
“They represent USAO so well and what they do every day makes us all so proud! This is our first time competing in the Oklahoma Press Association journalism competition and we are excited with what we accomplished,” said Dr. J.C. Casey. trendThe faculty advisor said:
Upon entering the ceremony, there was a red carpet, delicious food, and swag bags. There were nine award categories, and newspapers were divided by target audience. There was also a University News Media category. trend We won an award.
The event began with individual awards. The Trend’s first award was in the column writing category, where Ms. Merchen, a fifth-year senior writer, won third place for her three witty movie reviews of “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer” and “The Little Mermaid.”
Fourth year contributing photographer Barrios Baldi won second place in the sports photography category.
Loughridge, a senior and editor-in-chief, won first place in the Photo Essay/Photo Page category. Her photo essay, “Hale Yeah” Shouts Freshman Orientation,” received a first-place plaque. In the same category, Loughridge won second place for another photo essay, “Droverstock 2024!”
“These awards are trend!This year we decided to challenge ourselves and join the Oklahoma Press Association (OPA) because we would have to compete with universities that are much bigger than USAO. trend “We competed against OU Daily and Okolie and won in several categories. This is a great achievement for our staff, our publication and the university. These awards were much-needed accolades for our staff and a way to light a fire to be better and push ourselves towards the future,” Loughridge said of what these awards mean to us. trend“We are proud to have a staff of award-winning collegiate journalists. The OPA Awards are a prestigious honor in journalism in Oklahoma, and it is amazing that our students have the opportunity to graduate with at least one OPA award.”
The next group of awards was for publications as a whole, where the work of several authors was judged together on behalf of a newspaper company. In the Digital Media category: trend We won first place. This certificate is, trendwebsite and social media pages.
In the editorial writing department, trend Artists such as Merhen, Cracknell and Slock won third place. Overall in the photography category, trend With photography from former editor in chief Paul Teintig, Loughridge and Barrios Baldi, The Trend took second place. Finally, in the overall sports coverage category, The Trend took second place with writing from senior writer Preston Palm and contributing writers Hunter DeWall, Yocum and Loughridge.
All publishing awards are awarded points, and the newspaper with the most points wins the Sequoia Award, a highly prestigious award. Thirteen college newspapers, including those from Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma, were entered. trend He came in third place overall.
Jackson, a senior and editor-in-chief, attended the OPA Awards. Marietta Monitorwhere he did his internship in the summer of 2023. Two of the articles he wrote during his internship won awards in the seventh category. In the sports writing category, Jackson received a first place plaque for his article titled, “A new voice for the Indians: Culwell returns as game-day announcer.” In the feature writing category, he won third place.
Elian Kenney is a junior studying psychology at Oklahoma University of Science and Arts.
