CWU Student Media Honored with Pinnacle Awards

Central Washington University's award-winning student media have been recognized by the Pinnacles, a series of national awards given by the College Media Association recognizing the best work from college media organizations and individual journalists, for 2020-2021.

Tamara Sevao for Central Newswatch

The Observer, CWU's student-run newspaper, placed second for Best Newspaper Feature Page/Spread for The Mystery of Presidential Candidate Ralph Dean Templeton: A Local Cold Case. The feature chronicled the story of an unsolved Ellensburg mystery with a bulletin-board-inspired design and deep research into media coverage of the incident. The design was completed by Meghan Salsbury, a senior art major, and Rebekah Blum, a 2021 art graduate.

"This design was an example of a collaboration between two designers," Salsbury said. "We sourced all of the documents from newspaper clippings and maps, then we illustrated the sticky notes and strings to go with the concept of piecing together a case. This was also during the pandemic, so all of this work was done over Zoom calls."

In addition, Central News Watch won a second-place award in the Best Video Special Event Coverage category for Tamara Sevao's story about the Henry Foster Memorial. The coverage examines the tragic loss of CWU varsity rugby player Henry Foster following a cardiac arrest, through interviews with his teammates and footage of the memorial on the rugby field.

Earlier this year, The Observer won Best in Show at the Associated College Press Awards, and PULSE magazine was a finalist for National Best Student Magazine in the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards contest.

Background
The Department of Communication at CWU offers a Media and Journalism BA. CWU boasts modern broadcast facilities where students can practice every aspect of broadcast and audio production, and labs equipped with the latest editing and design software used in professional newsrooms. Journalism degrees are built on hands-on experience covering real news that's published across a variety of platforms under the guidance of experienced faculty and staff.

Media Contact: Rune Torgersen, Department of Public Affairs, rune.torgersen@cwu.edu.