Friday, Apr 27, 2018
The Rider News earns 11 awards for 2017-18 academic year
by Rachel Stengel '14
The University's student newspaper, The Rider News, earned 11 awards for the 2017-18 academic year, including first place in General Excellence from the New Jersey Collegiate Press Association (NJPA), making it the best student newspaper for a four-year college or university in New Jersey.
Five individual NJPA awards were bestowed in the feature writing, biography/personal profile, editorial and web project categories. The paper also earned five Society of Professional Journalists Region 1 Mark of Excellence Awards. The awards recognize outstanding student journalism at colleges and universities from the East Coast, stretching from Maine to New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Senior journalism major and The Rider News managing editor Shanna O'Mara says the awards are indicative of the hard work the staff has put into the paper.
"We have faced some tough stories, but always work hard to produce fair, accurate and thorough articles," she says. "We spend countless hours in our Ridge House office, clicking away on keyboards well into the night, to ensure this."
Senior journalism major and news editor for The Rider News Gianluca D'Elia says the awards are a strong way to culminate his senior year at Rider.
"It’s so nice to see that all our hard work paid off," he says. "I went from never even being considered for an SPJ award in previous years to being nominated in two categories. It was very exciting."
The Rider News is a weekly, student-run publication. It covers news, features, entertainment, opinion and sports. The Rider News publishes Wednesdays throughout the school year and hosts the theridernews.com.
New Jersey Collegiate Press Association awards
General Excellence
The staff of The Rider News
Feature Writing
Samantha Brandbergh, third place
Biography/Personality Profile
Gianluca D'Elia, first place Rob Rose, second place
Editorial Writing
Hayley Fahey, first place
Web Project
Rose Rose, second place
Society of Professional Journalists awards
General News Photography, Small School Division
Gianluca D'Elia, first place Shanna O'Mara, finalist
Breaking News, Small School Division
Mary-Lyn Buckley, finalist
In-Depth Reporting, Small School Division
Shanna O'Mara, Gianluca D'Elia and Tom Regan '17, finalist
Feature Writing, Small School Division
Samantha Brandbergh, finalist