Flashes!  News From The Department of Communication
 

Index/Detours Staffs Take Home SPJ And MCMA Awards

The Index, the Truman State weekly student newspaper, Detours, a bi-annual travel magazine, and several Index staff members brought home awards from The Society of Professional Journalists' Region 7 conference in Ames, Iowa, April 5.

The Index took first place in the region in the category of Best All-Around Non-Daily Newspaper; Detours took second place in the Best Student Magazine category. Region 7 comprises Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.

Individual winners include:
- Mark Hardy, 1st place in Breaking News Photography
- Jessie Gasch, 1st place in both Breaking News Reporting and Online News Reporting
- Joe Barker, 2nd place in Sports Column Writing, second place in Online Sports Reporting, and third place in Sports Photography;
- Sara DeGonia, 2nd place in place in General Column Writing and third place in Editorial Writing
- Daniel Glossenger, 2nd place in Editorial Writing
- Julie Williams, 3rd place in General News Reporting.

All first place winners, including the Index's overall award, will now be judged against 11 other regions for SPJ's national competition. SPJ's Mark of Excellence Awards are designed to honor the best of student journalism. National winners will be announced at the 2008 SPJ National Conference this Sept. in Atlanta.

In addition to SPJ awards, The Index won 24 awards, including best overall newspaper and the sweepstakes award for receiving the most awards overall, at the Missouri College Media Advisers spring conference in Joplin, Mo.  The Index received a 1st place award for Best Overall Newspaper.  Other MCMA honors include:
-News Writing – 2nd place – Jessie Gasch
-Editorial Writing – 1st place – Jessie Gasch and the Editorial Board
-Editorial Writing – 3rd place – Sara DeGonia and the Editorial Board
-Editorial Writing – Honorable Mention – Daniel Glossenger and the Editorial Board
-Sports Writing – 1st place – Blake Toppmeyer
-Sports Writing – Honorable Mention – Blake Toppmeyer
-In-Depth reporting – 1st place – Kalen Ponche
-In-Depth reporting – Honorable Mention – Chris Boning
-Investigative Reporting – 2nd place – Jessie Gasch
-Sports Column Writing – 1st place – Joe Barker
-Sports Column Writing – Honorable Mention – Blake Toppmeyer
-News Photo – 2nd place – Mark Hardy
-News Photo – 3rd place – Jackson Groves
-Feature Photo – 2nd place - Phil Jarrett
-Feature Photo – Honorable Mention – Phil Jarrett
-Sports Photo – Honorable Mention – Joe Barker
-Photo Illustration – 2nd place – Phil Jarrett
-Advertising Design – 2nd place – Tina May
-Page One Design – 1st place – Nick Wilsey
-Page One Design – 2nd place – Nick Wilsey
-Page One Design – Honorable Mention – Nick Wilsey
-Feature Page – HM - Nick Wilsey, Phil Jarrett, Andrea Bailey, Dylan Herx
-Sweepstakes winner (points are awarded for each 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and HM – with more points for 1st and fewer for HM) – 1st place – the Index

The Index and Detours, along with KTRM (FM) and KTRM-TV, News 36, are members of the Truman Media Network.
 

     Flashes  ...more news