On Saturday, June 7, The Trend traveled to Shawnee to compete in the Oklahoma Press Association (OPA) annual Better Newspaper Contest. The contest is a chance for publications to submit their work and be recognized for their hard work in the past year.
This year, The Trend had eight representatives at the OPA Awards: former editors-in-chief Emily Loughridge and Gary Jackson; current editors Cassie Srock, Thomas Buchanan, Matthew Yokum and Whitley Brown; photographer Laura Barrios Bardi; and faculty advisor for The Trend, Dr. J.C. Casey.
Once arriving to the Grand Casino in Shawnee, we checked in and got name tags. While waiting for the ballroom to open, attendees were given the opportunity to look at the work of first place winners and get complimentary headshots. As we entered the ball room and walked the red carpet, we found our seating arrangement and began to eat dinner. During the event, OPA provides a meal and gives out two complimentary drink cards. OPA provides a good meal and plenty of opportunity to meet the people around you and network throughout the night.
This is the second year that The Trend has attended the OPA Better Newspaper Contest. Last year, The Trend walked away with eight awards and two first-place finishers.
The Trend took part in the collegiate division of the Better Newspaper Contest hoping for first place in various categories against other schools like Oklahoma State University, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, Cameron University, and more.
This year, The Trend came home with five awards. Not only that, but two of the five awards were first place.
In the sports photography category, Barrios Bardi finished first with her photo for the article “Why not us? The Drovers finish third at NAIA Softball World Series in Georgia.” She also placed third in the same category for her photo included in “MACU steals first conference series win.”
Next, in photo essay, The Trend had two representatives place. Barrios Bardi placed second with her photo essay on Drover Madness. In third, Loughridge placed with her photo essay on Droverstock.
Lastly, in the digital media category, The Trend placed first for our website design and our activeness on social media. The Trend’s website and social media pages were noted for diverse coverage and for being easy to navigate. Loughridge and Jackson walked the stage to accept the award making it two years in a row The Trend received first-place recognition for digital media. The recognition is well deserved and The Trend wants to thank Loughridge for the work she has put in to bring our website and our social media pages to the spotlight.
As mentioned earlier, this is only the second year that The Trend has attended this conference, but we are already excited for next year. We are a lucky group to get to attend the OPA Better Newspaper Contest. It’s a good way to look back on the year and see how you’ve improved in that time and look ahead at what still needs improvement.
As Editor-in-Chief I would love to see us bring home more hardware next year. Five is a good number, but based off of our first year attending the OPA contest, I know The Trend has the ability to do great things. We had a lot of tough competition, and I was disappointed to see that we hadn’t placed in certain categories. However, this has helped me, and the other writers who attended, to understand what we need to focus on to improve our writing before next year’s contest.
Matthew Yokum is a third-year communication major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
