OU's student newspaper brings home national media awards

By Dan Bodene, contributing writer

Oakland University’s independent student newspaper, The Oakland Post, collected a pair of prestigious awards at a recent national college media convention.

The Post’s website, oaklandpostonline.com won top honors for Publication Website – Large School, and the Post’s print edition placed ninth in the Four-year Weekly Tabloid category in the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) Best of Show awards.

ACP also announced that The Post had earned a 2010 Pacemaker award finalist plaque, placing it among the top 22 non-daily student newspapers in the U.S. and Canada.

“We got really great positive feedback and it reaffirmed that all the work we do each week is worth it,” said Kay Nguyen, editor-in-chief of The Post. “We beat many schools with more well-known journalism programs and newspapers and it was awesome to know that all the work we did, along with our advisor Holly Gilbert's encouragement to be a web-first publication, did not go unnoticed.”

Gilbert, a faculty advisor to The Post, said, “The Post website has been years in the making and many brilliant minds have contributed to it, but this year it really arrived. The judges in these contests don't just look for pretty, they look for solid, serious content and professional presentation. The Post site has that nailed. And by the way, it isn't just those ACP judges who understand quality ... traffic on the website is increasing every week. The audience, after all is said and done, is the ultimate judge.”

As for The Post’s print edition award, Gilbert noted, “That's just the beginning, I think. The redesign of the paper this year is just a knockout. Again, this is something that took months of research and development. The editors worked all summer to bring this on and, wow, they did themselves, and OU, proud.”

Nguyen and six other staff members attended the ACP’s National College Media Convention, held Oct. 27-31 in Louisville, Ky. The convention offered more than 400 learning sessions and workshops, on-site media critiques, student media displays and exchanges, keynote speeches and networking opportunities.

Earlier this year, The Post won 11 awards in the Michigan Press Association’s 2010 College Contest, including first place in General Excellence – Division 2.