The BG News was among five daily college newspapers that earned a prestigious Best of Show award in a top category at this year's National College Media Convention sponsored by the Associated Collegiate Press and College Media Advisers, Inc.
The BG News received honorable mention status, along with The Daily Texan at the University of Texas-Austin, in the category for broadsheet newspapers at four-year colleges. The top three finishers were The Daily Tar Heel, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; The Daily Pennsylvanian, University of Pennsylvania; and The Badger Herald, University of Wisconsin.
The Best of Show category is based on analysis of a recent issue, entered for judging by schools in attendance at the convention. More than 2,500 student journalists and several hundred advisers attended the event, held Oct. 25-29, 2006, in St. Louis. The Associated Collegiate Press is the largest membership organization for college student media in America.
The BG News was redesigned in August, with the help of three visiting professionals.
"The honorable mention in Best of Show was exciting because it recognized the work of our current fall staff and places us in a favorable comparison with some very large programs," said BG News Adviser Bob Bortel, '77, '83, who accompanied nine staff members to the convention. "And it included our redesigned look."
Two BG News staff designers also were recognized at the ACP/CMA convention. Brandon Noble won second place in the 2006 Pacemaker Associated Collegiate Press Design of the Year, Newspaper Page One category.
Designer Stephanie Guigou won honorable mention in the 2006 Pacemaker competition in the News Page/Spread of the Year category. Guigou will be a design intern at the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times this summer.
The national recognition comes on the heels of The BG News being named Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper by the Society of Professional Journalists in its Region 4 Mark of Excellence awards contest last spring. It marked the third time in four years The BG News had won the top SPJ regional award.
And in 2005, the newspaper won a national Award of Excellence from the Society of News Design for a sports front page featuring the BGSU women's soccer team's second consecutive conference championship.
