The Missouri School of Journalism’s community newspaper, the Columbia Missourian, wins a record 79 Missouri Press Association awards
By Cheri Eichholz Cherry
Columbia Missourian
Columbia, Mo. (Sept. 28, 2020) — The Columbia Missourian, including Vox Magazine, won a record 79 awards Thursday in the Missouri Press Association‘s 2020 Better Newspaper Contest, including the gold cup award given to the news organization with the most awards in its division.
The Missourian swept eight categories, including Best Photo Illustration, Best Photo Package, Best Sports Feature Photograph, Best Investigative Reporting, Best Story about Religion, Best Information Graphic, Best Video and Best Health Story.
The Missourian competed in the division of newspapers with circulations from 5,001 to 15,000 and won awards for written stories, photos, ongoing coverage, multimedia, graphics, design and projects published in 2019.
The awards were announced Thursday during the Missouri Press Association’s annual business meeting, which was held virtually this year.
First Place
- General Excellence: The Missourian won for breadth of coverage, quality of layout and design, the use of photographs, artwork and advertising design and layout over three issues, which included a special MU Homecoming section.
- Best Coverage of Government: Kyra Haas and Aviva Okeson-Haberman won for their story about inefficiencies in Missouri’s elder abuse hotline. This joint investigation by KBIA and the Columbia Missourian revealed less than half of the 92,000 calls made to the hotline were answered in 2018. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt launched an investigation into the hotline and said he learned of the gravity of this issue from the Missourian and KBIA’s reporting.
- Best News Story: Emily Wolf won for her story about the flaws in Nathan’s Law, which was drafted to ensure the safety of children in unlicensed child care homes.
- Best Feature Story: Morgan Keith and Janice Zhou won for their story about the tragic death of a child by a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway train in Marceline.
- Best News or Feature Series: Alexis Allison won for her series on food insecurity across the state and how grassroots partnerships are working to provide stability for people without regular access to nutritious food.
- Best News Photograph: Claire Hassler won for her photograph of Shaunda Hamilton speaking to a crowd about standing together against gun violence at a vigil for her daughter Nadria Wright.
- Best Feature Photograph: Emmalee Reed won for her photograph of MU student Ben Schnelle and royalty candidate Catherine Hoffman celebrating the results for Homecoming King and Queen at halftime at the Missouri game against Ole Miss.
- Best Sports Photograph: Tristen Rouse won for his photograph of Helias defensive back Griffin Buschjost intercepting a pass intended for Rock Bridge in a game at Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City.
- Best Sports Feature Photograph: Jacob Moscovitch won for his photo of Tolton High School’s Max Schelich embracing fellow player Kyle Kormeier during a baseball game against New Bloomfield High School.
- Best Photo Illustration: Antranik Tavitian won for his photo illustration of a slide projection of historic figures relating to Winston Churchill during the National Churchill Museum’s 50th anniversary celebration in Fulton.
- Best Photo Package: Missourian visual journalists won for their Aug. 30 edition of Friday Night Sights, a compilation of visuals of high school football.
- Best Sports Pages: Missourian staff won for a three-issue package that was evaluated for writing, content, photography, layout and design.
- Best Sports Feature: Bennett Durando won for his profile of girls state champion wrestler Mary “Belle” Harrell of Hickman High School.
- Best Investigative Reporting: Sky Chadde won for his story about migrant workers in Missouri’s Bootheel, who faced abuses, threats and a lack of payment for their work.
- Best Local Business Coverage: Missourian staff won for coverage of wind farms in northwest Missouri and coal ash pollution from power plants in the state.
- Best Business Story: Abigail E. Shaw, Antranik Tavitian and Emily Catherine Adams won for their story about conflicts and differences in opinion over wind-powered projects in northwest Missouri.
- Best Coverage of Rural Life or Agriculture: Kristoffer Tigue won for his Vox Magazine feature about Mexico, Missouri’s, fight to diversify its economy and give young people, especially, reasons to stay in town after graduation.
- Best Story About Rural Life or Agriculture: Tom Coulter won for his story about a new CAFO law that divides farmers and health departments over the future of agriculture and the environment in Missouri.
- Best Story about Religion: Nick Kelly won for his profile of Missouri defensive tackle, Kobie Whiteside, and the importance of his faith.
- Best Story about Education: Tessa Weinberg and Thomas Oide won for their story about disparities in suspensions against Missouri’s black students.
- Best Military Story: Alyssa Shikles won for her story about Welcome Home, a facility that offers homeless veterans a transitional living program fostering successful, independent living.
- Best Page Design: This award was for a story that featured the Rock Bridge boys basketball team winning the state championship for the first time in school history.
- Best Information Graphic: Monique Woo won for her Mizzou in Bloom graphic featuring hand-drawn images and bloom times of some popular MU Botanic Garden plants.
- Best Online Newspaper or Website: Judging based on originality, ease of use, local content and advertising won for ColumbiaMissourian.com staffers.
- Best Video: Hillary Tan, Julia Hansen and Elliot Bauman won for their video Back on the Track featuring MU junior and car racer Louie Lovelace.
- Best Headline Writing: Missourian staff won for creative and clever headlines, such as “Impact of CBD? TBD” “Woe is Laramie!” and “Want mo’ monarchs? You’ll want to plant Mo. Milkweed.”
- Best News or Feature Obituary: Vivian Herzog won for her life story about Jordan Hoyt, an inspiring member of the community and the MU campus.
- Multi-media Reporting: Missourian sports, outreach and visual staff members won for their coverage of Missouri vs. Georgia. The package included Tiger Kickoff, the podcast, The Impossible Quiz, an Instagram story and visuals.
- Best Health Story: Catherine Wendlandt won for her Vox Magazine feature story for Addiction in the kitchen: the secret burning in the restaurant industry.
Second Place
- Best Feature Story: Karina Zaiets won for her story about Columbia pathologist Adam Clapper and how he helped take down multi-billion dollar company, Theranos, based on faulty scientific claims.
- Best Feature Photograph: Madison Parry won for her feature photo of Mike Szydlowski, science coordinator for Columbia Public Schools, showing a duckling to co-worker Jenny Weston.
- Best Sports Feature Photograph: Hillary Tan won for his photograph of Hickman defensive tackle Keyshawn Brown.
- Best Photo Illustration: Yanran Huang won for her Vox Magazine photo illustration of a martini from Barred Owl restaurant.
- Best Photo Package: Julia Hansen won for her visuals package about migrant workers in Missouri’s Bootheel, who faced employer intimidation and worked in dangerous conditions.
- Best Sports Feature: Bennett Durando won for his story about Missouri football’s team captain and linebacker, Cale Garrett, and how he finds clarity through hiking.
- Best Investigative Reporting: Yue Yu won for her story about Columbia developer Jeffrey Smith who bypassed state campaign contribution limits by funneling nearly $1 million through shell PACs.
- Best Coverage of Rural Life or Agriculture: Kristoffer Tigue won for Best Story About Rural Life or Agriculture for his Vox Magazine feature about Mexico, Missouri’s, fight to diversify its economy and give young people, especially, reasons to stay in town after graduation.
- Best Story about Religion: Jacob Moscovitch won for his profile on conversion therapy survivor Amanda Louck.
- Best Story about Education: Tynan Stewart won for his story about how MU agricultural research cultivates profits for industry.
- Best Page Design: Staff award for the layout, design of text and photos of the Pictures of the Year 2019 competition.
- Best Information Graphic: Olivia Garrett won for her graphic about plans to replace the aging Rocheport Missouri River bridge.
- Best Video: Phoebe Mussman, Jacob Moscovitch, Ethan Weston, Jenna Kieser, Jennifer Mosbrucker and Emily Nevils won for their video Hiding in Plain Sight, a compilation of visuals from neighborhoods infrequently covered by the Missourian.
- Best News or Feature Obituary: Libby Stanford won for her life story about Dyno Penny, a local musician who lived life just as he wanted.
- Best Health Story: Mauricio Venegas won for his story about how home-based medical sensors are extending seniors’ independence.
- Best Overall Design: Missourian staff won based on a three-issue submission. Judging criteria looks for consistent quality of the entire newspaper and includes all design elements, such as photography and graphics.
- Best Breaking News Story: Galen Bacharier won for his story about MU’s decision to raze Pickard Hall, the third oldest building on campus, because of an inability to eliminate radioactive contamination.
- Community Service: Missourian staff won for their 2019 edition of the Progress Awards, a program that honors unsung heroes in our community. Categories represented include progress in the arts, civic engagement, social justice and corporate citizenship.
- Best News or Feature Special Section: Missourian staff won for the special section BOOMTOWN tailored to readers over 50.
- Best Story about the Outdoors: Molly Hart (text) and Claire Hassler (visuals) won for their story about the battle over a rail-to-trail project, the Rock Island Corridor, that will impact landowners in a potentially negative way.
- Best Story About History: Kate Robbins won for her Vox Magazine story about a 1991 mass shooting in her home town of California, Missouri.
Third Place
- Best News Story: Galen Bacharier won for his story about the repeal of Missouri’s motorcycle helmet law and what it means for motorcyclists.
- Best Feature Photograph: Joel Chan won for his photograph of a toddler at a sensory-friendly Touch-a-Truck event.
- Best Sports Feature Photograph: Antranik Tavitian won for his photograph of wrestlers preparing for a match at the Missouri State High School 2019 Wrestling Championships at Mizzou Arena.
- Best Photo Illustration: Antranik Tavitian won for his long exposure photo of March March attendees walking down Ninth Street.
- Best Photo Package: Lia Waldrum won for her photo story about a music therapy school in mid-Missouri that serves a wide range of children, including some who are severely disabled. Missourian staff also won for Best Page Design for the print edition of this story based on content, photography, layout and design.
- Best Story About Rural Life or Agriculture: Rachel Behrndt (text) and Jacob Moscovitch (visuals) won for their story about an innovative effort to support artisanal agriculture in central Missouri.
- Best Story about Religion: Lauren Polanski won for her story about a new program training prisoners to become pastors in Missouri prisons.
- Best Story About Education: Tynan Stewart won for his story about how MU agricultural research cultivates profits for industry.
- Best Information Graphic: Petar Georgiev won for his tooth-and-claw graphic.
- Best Video: Videographers Matt McCabe, Liv Paggiarino and Tristen Rouse and supervising producers Julia Hansen and Jacob Moscovitch won for the video Queen Tanayia, about Hickman High School’s 2019 Homecoming Queen.
- Best Health Story: Kacen J. Bayless and Seth Bodine won for their story about rural Missourians’ lack of access to quality health care.
- Best Breaking News Story: Bennett Durando won for his story about Missouri football being banned from 2019-20 postseason play as a result of the NCAA’s academic fraud investigation.
Honorable Mention
- Best News Story: Morgan Keith and Janice Zhou won for their story about the tragic death of a child by a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway train in Marceline.
- Best Feature Story: Steve Garrison won for his story about flood control measures and how they have pushed endangered species to the brink.
- Best News Photograph: Yanran Huang won for her photo of Starlita Benson during the MU Remembers wreath-laying ceremony.
- Best Sports Feature Photograph: Tristen Rouse won for his photograph of Tolton defensive back Dylan Block.
- Best Photo Illustration: Hope Johnson won an honorable mention for her illustration of True/False Film Fest photos through the years.
- Best Photo Package: Antranik Tavitian won for his package on windmill turbines in central and northwest Missouri.
- Best Investigative Reporting: Sky Chadde and Yue Yu teamed up to win an honorable mention award for their story about lobbying groups trying to make it harder to sue businesses.
- Best Story about Religion: Olivia Garrett won for her story about Tolton Catholic’s namesake and his path to sainthood.
- Best Information Graphic: Javkhlan Bold-Erdene got an honorable mention for her graphic about how Missouri suffers disproportionately from disasters compared to other states.
- Best Video: Matt McCabe, Joel Green and Jacob Moscovitch won for the video Mr. Bus Driver.
- Best News or Feature Obituary: Colleen Wouters won an honorable mention for her life story about Cathy Barton Para, folk musician and co-founder of the Big Muddy Folk Festival in Boonville.
- Best Health Story: Kelly Kenoyer, Veronica Mohesky, Hannah Musick and Renae Whissel won nod for their story about suicide among older adults.
- Community Service: Missourian staff won for organizing and hosting the 2019 Missourian Regional Spelling Bee.
- Best Editorial Cartoon: John Darkow won for his commentary on current events and issues, including politics, immigration and sports.
Updated: September 28, 2020