'The Lookout' earns six press awards

By Larry Hook
The Lookout Adviser

The staff of The Lookout, LCC’s student newspaper, earned six awards in the Michigan Press Association’s 2023 College Better Newspaper Contest.

A total of 567 entries from 19 Michigan Colleges were included in the contest. Judging was done by members of the Pennsylvania Press Association. The winners were announced by the MPA on March 14 at an awards banquet in Plymouth.

The Lookout competed in Division 3, for colleges that publish their newspapers less than weekly. Entries in the contest were from the 2022-23 school year.

Former Editor in Chief Julie Newell earned three of the awards for The Lookout, including first place in the “Feature Photo” category. The award was for her front-page photo of the fireworks over the Capitol during Lansing’s Silver Bells in the City celebration in November of 2022.

Newell also earned honorable mention in both the “Non-Front-Page Design” and “Sports News Features” categories. Both of those awards were centered on Newell’s coverage of LCC’s national championship women’s cross country team in the fall of 2022.

Newell, who is now a preschool teacher in Watervliet, said she was surprised to hear she won three awards. She said she is happy for herself and her co-workers who also won.

“It’s awesome,” Newell said. “I’m really proud of what everybody did at the paper. It’s rewarding to know that people appreciate your work.”

Current Editor in Chief Mallory Stiles earned two awards for her work with The Lookout during 2022-23.

One was a third-place award for an investigative piece in the “News Story” category titled, “Uptick in Respiratory Syncytial Virus a major concern.” The other was third place for “Best Writer,” with several of Stiles’ best stories being submitted for that category.

The sixth award for The Lookout was claimed by former Sports Editor Jayden Hewitt, who earned honorable mention in the “Sports Column, Review or Blog” category. The topic of Hewitt’s award-winning column was the never-ending rebuild taking place with the Detroit Pistons.

Michigan College Press Association President Joanne Williams, associate professor of journalism and mass communications at Olivet College, commented on the quality of this year’s entries, and the importance of the contest.

"It is more important than ever to recognize and encourage good, impactful journalism,” Williams said. “That is what our college newspapers are doing, and with support and recognition from contests and professionals in the field, that will continue. Our experienced faculty and advisers will see to it as well."