Journalism students and The Jambar, place in annual ONMA contest

The Jambar, Youngstown State University’s student newspaper, placed in five of 10 categories at the Ohio News Media Association Competition.

The annual awards were announced during the Ohio News Media and Collegiate Fellowship Day at the Quest Conference Center in Westerville, Ohio.

The Jambar competes in Division A which includes universities of 10,000 students or more. Universities in this category include Miami University, University of Cincinnati and Ohio University.

The Jambar staff took second place for Best Website. According to the judges, “The website is not cluttered. It’s visually appealing, and well branded. It is also easy to navigate.” The Jambar website can be viewed at thejambar.com.

Individual award winners include Abigail Cloutier, Yousof Hamza and Jessica Stamp who collected third place for In-Depth Reporting. The judges said their reporting included, “Lots of good interviews and quotes throughout their series of articles.”

Stamp and Maddison Fessler won third place for Design. The judges noted, “The Jambar is clean and follows important ‘rules’ of design. The headline fonts descend down the page, the pages look full, and supporting graphics are relevant, aligned well, and eye grabbing.”

The work of Cloutier, Hamza and Samantha Smith placed third for Photojournalism. The judge said a photo from a YSU faculty protest taken by Cloutier added significantly to the story. “It’s hard to get a good crowd shot, and this one does.”

Aileen Blaine won third place for Arts and Entertainment reporting. The judge said, “Great stories and topics, and solid writing.”

“It’s one thing to place in ONMA’s contest each year, it’s another thing entirely to place among such elite student media competition,” said Mary Beth Earnheardt, Journalism professor and student media advisor. “We’re very proud of the continued successes of The Jambar staff, and the recognition of their work by professional journalists.”

Established in 1933, the Ohio News Media Association formally consolidated the activities of two loosely-knit groups of publishers which had existed since the late 1800s, the Buckeye Press Association for a weekly newspaper in the Associated Ohio Dailies. These forerunner organizations banded together to share trade information and to jointly sell advertising.

From these roots has evolved a strong state trade association which represents all of Ohio’s daily newspapers and weekly newspapers which qualify for periodicals class mail privileges. 0NMA administer as a full program of member services that include government relations and lobbying, publications, seminars and employee training, legal assistance, group insurance, and advertising services.

To learn more about the Ohio News Media Association, visit ohionews.org.