Benedictine College journalism and mass communication students received high honors at this year’s Kansas Collegiate Media competition.
According to one of the managing editors, Liam Keating, the awards are extremely important to student journalists because they help create a competitive environment.
“Receiving positive feedback from KCM that we are doing a successful job at The Circuit gives us joy and excitement that the long hours were all worth it in the end,” Keating said.
While Keating admits, many journalists do not do it for the awards but more to give readers truthful reporting so they understand the facts, the recognition does not go unnoticed.
“I focused my work this year on long-form journalism and telling the story of the whole athlete from their beginnings and journey to Benedictine College,” Keating said. “It makes me very happy that my hours of research and writing came to fruition.”
Keating was among several Benedictine students who received awards in the statewide contest. The competition includes both two and four year public and private colleges and universities.
This year, The Circuit and it’s online website, bccircuit.com, received the Bronze Awards in both the overall categories for private print publications and overall online college websites in Kansas.
Dr. Kevin Page, chair of the journalism and mass communications department, is the president of KCM. He believes that the competition is relevant to students considering a career in mass communications.
“The contest encourages our students to make sure that their work is of high standards, which in turn provides them with a better education,” Page said.
Adviser to the student journalists, Professor Julie Love, agrees.
“The goal for any journalist needs to be that what you wrote is worth reading,” Love explained. “By allowing the students the opportunity to hear feedback from professionals is just part of the applied learning aspect here at Benedictine.”
The faculty of this department all have former careers in their fields, a benefit the chair believes gives the department an edge for keeping the program up-to-date and applicable.
And this experience seems to help the students.
Just ask Keating, whose winning feature focused on a student overcoming cancer to get back to the hardboards.
“The third-place finish helps motivate me. I am going to work as hard as possible to complete my craft as a writer and interviewer to finish as one of the best in the state at the 2021 KCM Awards,” Keating said.
Video link to this year’s winners.
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The KCM association was founded in 1967 under the name The Kansas Association of Two-Year College Mass Media Advisers. On February 22, 1979, the name was changed to the Kansas Association of Journalism Advisers. In April 1988, the name of the association was changed to Kansas Associated Collegiate Press. In 2012, the name was changed to Kansas Collegiate Media. Membership is open to any college or university, public or private, in the state of Kansas.
