The Society of Professional Journalists named The Western Front the best non-daily college newspaper across five states. After years of being finalists for the Society’s Mark of Excellence Award and a previous win, The Western Front again received the top spot in the Northwest region, beating out schools in Washington, Alaska, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. In each category, one to two finalists were named alongside the winners, with Western students grabbing numerous spots. Klipsun magazine was named a finalist for Best Student Magazine for their submitted “Impact” issue. Several Western Front reporters and editors, as well as other Western journalism students won awards in different categories. Jesse Nichols, former editor-in-chief for The Planet, won Best Radio Feature for his “Yellow Cedars” feature. Kjell Redal, former editor-in-chief for Klipsun, won Best In-Depth Newspaper Reporting for his “WWU defies labor law” article. Western journalism students were also named as finalists for various awards. Sarah Climaco and Evan Keen were finalists in the non-fiction magazine story category for their “Bracing for Change” story in The Planet. For her breaking news coverage of the Cascade Mall shooting, Alyssa Evans was a finalist for newspaper breaking news. After traveling to Kansas for the Division II NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, Evan Elliott and Morgan Stilp-Allen were finalists for online sports coverage. Sarah Sharp was named a finalist for feature story, after her story about ham radio buffs helping their community get published in the Blaine and Birch Bay community newspaper, Northern Light The winners of each category will go up against 11 other regional winners, and national winners will be named in September.
