CWU student media nominated for six national awards

Each year, the College Media Association (CMA) honors student media outlets blazing new trails and putting out high-quality reporting through the Pinnacle Awards.

Central Washington University’s student-run publications PULSE magazine and The Observer newspaper recently picked up six nominations for Pinnacle Awards between them, and their teams will find out this week whether they’ve won at the CMA/ACP (Associated College Press) Joint National Convention in Kansas City.

Editor-in-Chief of The Observer Brandon Mattesich sees the honor as emblematic of the publication’s reader-first editorial practices.

“When we look at what we want to do with the publication, we look at what our would readers want to see, and how we can get that content to them in the best way we know how,” he said. “I think it's in the process of asking those questions that we find ourselves placing for these awards.”

The Observer earned award nominations for Mattesich’s series of columns on staffing attrition at CWU, as well as stories on campus culture and the importance of student media voices. The newspaper’s design team also received nods for front-page design and one of its feature spreads.

“That's always a very rewarding experience as a journalist, to know that not only was your reporting relevant enough to get people to read, but to have these people who you couldn't reach before then reaching out and further confirming and building upon that reporting you already started,” Mattesich said. “I have come to expect a bit of an uphill battle when reporting on subject matters like staffing attrition, but I always find it worth the effort.”

Mattesich’s career with The Observer started as a way to develop his skills behind a camera, but the experience quickly turned into something more.

“I started my time with The Observer as a film major who had never written a story in his life,” he said. “I was hired as a photographer, and I eventually started to try my hand at a few stories. Obviously, things evolved quickly from there, and now I'm double-majoring so I can pursue journalism as well.”

PULSE received a Pinnacle Awards nomination for a multimedia package featuring both a printed story and a video piece about line dancing in Ellensburg, titled “Boots & Boogie.” The magazine is also in the running for the Magazine of the Year award for its Spring 2026 edition.

Editor-in Chief Tyler Diltz sees the work as a team effort, and he looks forward to diving even deeper into the Ellensburg community as part of the magazine’s reporting.

“Being a finalist really is an honor, and the first thing I did was let our team know that their work does not go unrecognized; they are really great at what they do,” he said. “Going forward, I think we’ll continue to tackle stories that help our community get involved with new people and new things. There is just so much excitement in it.”

It is that same collaborative approach that Diltz sees as crucial in CWU student media’s ability to compete with similar programs from much larger institutions.

“We compete against bigger schools with more money and a larger pool of students, so why do we do so well in competition? I think it’s our dedication and teamwork,” he said. “That’s what PULSE and The Observer always have.”