Fourteen USAO students will compete for 40 awards for journalism excellence in the 2023 Oklahoma Press Association Better Newspaper Contest. Winners will be announced in June during the OPA’s spring conference in Oklahoma City.
“This is the first time we’ve entered the OPA’s contest, and we will be up against 15 other college newspapers of all sizes,” senior Emily Loughridge, who has served as The Trend’s editor-in-chief since January 2023, said
Eight students are nominated for individual excellence in 11 categories.
Loughridge and senior Paul Tointigh were both nominated for seven awards each.
Loughridge will compete in News Story, Feature Story, Sports Story, Education, News Photograph, Feature Photograph, and Photo Essay. Tointigh will compete in
News and Feature Story, Business Story, Education, In-Depth Reporting, Column Writing, and News Photograph.
Other nominees include communication junior and The Trend’s sports editor Gary Jackson (Feature Story and Sports Story), freshman history education major Austin Jackson (Sports Story), business administration sophomore Holden Pate (Sports Story), art sophomore Thomas Buchanan (In-Depth Reporting), communication senior Gabi Merchen (Column Writing), and sophomore art major Laura Bardi (Feature Photography, Sports Photograph, and Photo Essay).
The Trend, USAO’s student-produced newspaper, will compete in five categories that recognize a newspaper’s overall body of work in a particular area, including advertising, editorial writing, photography, sports coverage, and digital media.
Students whose work supported the publication nominations include sophomore communication major Ray Latham-Thomas, advertising; communication majors Harry Cracknell, Cassie Srock, and Merchen editorial writing; Loughridge, Tointigh, and Bardi, photography; communication junior Preston Palm, sophomore physical education major Hunter Dewall, and communication major Matthew Yokum, sports coverage; and Loughridge, digital media.
Dr. J.C. Casey is a professor of communication at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
