'The Lookout' staff earns nine awards

LCC’s student newspaper, The Lookout, tied for first place in General Excellence in the 2021-22 Michigan Community College Press Association’s annual newspaper contest. A total of 10 two-year colleges competed in the event.

The Lookout earned a total of nine awards in the competition, which is administered by students and staff at Central Michigan University. The awards were announced Wednesday, April 20.

“I think it’s great,” The Lookout Editor in Chief Julie Newell said. “I’m really impressed with our team of employees. We’ve definitely worked hard and I really think we deserved what we won. I’m so happy and excited for everyone.”

The Lookout tied for first place in General Excellence with The Washtenaw Voice from Washtenaw Community College.

Judge Jodi McFarland Friedman commented on the two first-place winners.

“To me it was a tough choice between the LCC Lookout and The Washtenaw Voice,” McFarland Friedman said. “Both papers had strong writing, articles that were relevant to their audience, plenty of great art and the layout was great.

“From a layout standpoint you really had two different styles, more of a magazine style with LCC and more of a traditional newspaper design with Washtenaw. Both were done very well. It was nearly
a tie in my book, but I felt LCC just barely edged out Washtenaw.”

In addition to the General Excellence award, The Lookout also earned the following awards:

First Place – Best Sports News Photo: Julie Newell for a photo of the LCC baseball team celebrating a home run;

Second Place – Best News Story: Chloe Gregg for her story about a woman being assaulted on LCC’s campus;

Second Place – Best Editorial: Chloe Gregg for the staff’s opinion on the state tax being eliminated on menstrual products;

Second Place – Best Photo Essay: Julie Newell for her photo-story on the “Intimate Apparel” play at LCC;

Third Place – Best Front Page Design: Julie Newell for the December 2021 page featuring “Silver Bells in the City.”

Third Place – Best Sports News Story: Julie Newell for a story about the LCC baseball team;

Third Place – Best News Website: The Lookout staff for its daily coverage of LCC events;

Honorable Mention – Best In-Depth Story: Jacob Zokvic for his story about the Lansing Mayoral race.

“Nine awards is an amazing showing for our staff, considering we started the year with just five employees and are completing it with only three,” The Lookout Adviser Larry Hook said.

“I was pleasantly surprised that we earned the General Excellence award with such a small staff. I am very proud of our student/employees who have worked so hard this school year to bring the news, sports and student events to our LCC readers during this school year.”

Associate Editor Chloe Gregg echoed Hook’s sentiments.

“I’m proud that we were able to get General Excellence,” Gregg said. “I’m happy that everyone was able to receive some recognition and that we can celebrate with each other.”