CWU student media honored at national award ceremony

Central Washington University’s student media works year-round to platform student voices and creative expression through two flagship publications, PULSE magazine and the Observer newspaper.

The efforts of these student-led teams received frequent recognition on regional and national conference stages, and this year was no different.

Earlier this fall, both publications took home multiple awards from MediaFest, the largest media convention in the country, held in Washington, D.C., from October 15-18. The annual event is sponsored by the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP), the College Media Association, and the Society of Professional Journalists.

The PULSE team came away with second place for the ACP’s Design of the Year for the cover of its Winter 2025 issue, and also earned runner-up honors in the Multimedia Story of the Year category for “Exploring Snoqualmie Tunnel.” The magazine also garnered fifth place overall in the Best of Show Feature Magazine competition for four-year universities, placing it among the best student publications in the nation.

PULSE Co-Editor-in-Chief Tyler Diltz knows that these successes are a direct result of the carefully curated culture of collaboration between a changing cast of team members every quarter. The deep and varied experiences each student brings to the table contributes to a cohesive, yet diverse final product, he explained.

“It has been the close collaboration from the get-go that allows PULSE to be recognized for many different awards,” Diltz said. “PULSE's staff is also incredibly multi-faceted. The students who enroll in PULSE can design, write, photograph and film. It's really common for a student, every quarter, to provide multiple of these skillsets to a single story.”

Both the visual language and editorial process of PULSE are built around this deep bench of talents, and they often evolve on the fly as more ideas are brought to the table.

“After pitching and deciding on our stories, we see what stories can work together cohesively and flow fluidly with visuals from story to story,” Diltz said. “We want to continue with writing unique stories that will allow us to seek stunning visuals that help us connect with our readers.”

The Observer, CWU’s student newspaper, placed fifth in the Best of Show Website competition, earning recognition for the online counterpart to its weekly printed paper. Observer Co-Editor-in-Chief Jackson Roberts said the team’s focus on virtual distribution has been front of mind for the duration of his tenure in the role.

“People are consuming the news on their phones and computers now, so we made that emphasis early on in our roles as co-EICs,” said Roberts, who has partnered with Brandon Mattesich in running the paper for the past four quarters. “Something that was big for me was the 2024 ACP Conference in New Orleans. I felt from there I came away with a lot of ideas to bring more life to our stories and modernize our website in a way that very much needed to not fall behind.”

Along with these awards, The Observer and PULSE were recognized as a finalist for the Student Press Law Center's Reveille Seven Courage in Journalism Award for its work in advocating for the paper’s funding by the Services and Activities (S&A) committee last spring. The effort led to a shortened duration for the S&A budget that would have left the publication in dire financial straits.

Mattesich helped lead the effort alongside Roberts, former Observer Lead Graphic Designer Z Morris, former PULSE EIC Gunner Stuns, and former PULSE Creative Director Zoey Ryan, all of whom were honored by name during the award presentation. Mattesich felt that the campaign to preserve the funding was the only possible choice, given the need to make student voices heard on campus.

“When we were advocating for free press at CWU, we were doing it because we almost felt morally obligated to do so, because we owed it to this campus that has given us so much,” he said. “I don't think any of us ever expected to be recognized for the work that we did that quarter, but it is truly an honor that we were and it's a feeling I will never forget.”

As Roberts prepares to finish out his last quarter at CWU, and consequently his last quarter as co-EIC of The Observer, he finds himself grateful for all that he and his student media colleagues have accomplished during an eventful year.

“The Observer and PULSE Magazine rooms are filled with such bright-minded individuals who have found that courage, and I am confident that through hearing our story and joining our amazing group of staff in student media, students can also find that courage,” he said. “Never be afraid to fight for what you feel is right, and let your voice be heard.”