The Daily Emerald took home first-place finishes for best news story, best sports story, best feature photo and best sports photo at the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association’s 2019 Collegiate Newspaper Contest.
ONPA also awarded the Emerald second-place finishes in best writing, best sports story, best spot news photo, best sports photo and best feature photo. The Emerald placed third in best news story and best review.
Associate news editor Michael Tobin and podcast editor Ryan Nguyen were awarded first place in the best news story category for their 2018 story “UO Phi Kappa Psi chapter temporarily suspended after derogatory document surfaces,” which revealed a 32-page document titled “Brothers of Phi Kappa Psi” containing anti-gay slurs, rape jokes, references to illegal drug use and derogatory language directed at women. The report led to the closure of the University of Oregon chapter, which also lost recognition from its national headquarters.
Associate sports editor Shawn Medow was awarded first place in best sports story for his 2018 story “‘Triple-double queen’ Sabrina Ionescu thrives on competition, looks to tackle Final Four expectations.” Medow’s piece features Oregon women’s basketball phenom Sabrina Ionescu and takes readers through her rise to stardom during her sophomore season. Through in-depth interviews with Ionescu’s twin brother, father, Oregon coach Kelly Graves and the subject of the piece herself, Medow provided an inside look at the 2019 John Wooden award recipient.
“An outstanding feature all-around and the clear winner,” wrote the ONPA contest judges in their comments about Medow’s piece. “Great use of quotes and a well-told story with lots of interesting anecdotes that show how the athlete came to be what she is.”
Photo editor Sarah Northrop placed first in the feature photo category for her “FUCK YEAH EUGENE” photo from her coverage of the Flaming Lips and Wayne Coyne’s concert at the McDonald Theatre in June 2018. Northrop also took the second-place spot for best feature photo, as well as the second place finish for best spot news photo.
Sports photographer Benjamin Green took home the first place award for best sports photo for his image of Oregon Ducks runner Jessica Hull as she crossed the finish line to win the 1500m at the 2018 NCAA Track & Field National Championships.
“Love the contrast of emotions between the winner and runner-up in the race,” wrote the ONPA contest judges. “Big-time moments such as this lend themselves to a lot of great emotion shots. Well done.”
Senior news reporter Emily Matlock placed second in best writing for her cover story on 2018-19 ASUO President Maria Alejandra Gallegos-Chacón. As she wrote the first cover story of the school year, Matlock produced a feature that ONPA contest judges said had “good descriptive language” and felt “like you were there when reading it.”
Senior sports reporter Maggie Vanoni placed second in best sports writing for her cover story on a group of student-athletes at UO who developed a campaign to help destigmatize conversations about mental health in sports.
“Some entrants in this category seemed more like features with a sports angle,” wrote the ONPA contest judges. “This one balanced all that but never let you forget you were reading a sports story, while still making good use of statistics to highlight an important issue affecting large swaths of society.”
Former Emerald sports photographer Rylee Maron notched a second place finish for best sports photo. Her shot from inside the tunnel of Autzen stadium as the Oregon football team stormed out onto the field during the 2018 season is the shot that earned the award.
“Not an easy photo to render given the darkness of the tunnel and the harsh lighting on the outside,” wrote the ONPA contest judges.
Editor-in-Chief Zach Price won third place in the best news story category for his article “Gov. Brown’s proposed state budget leaves UO’s tuition in limbo.”
Arts editor Jordan Montero earned a third-place finish in best review for his concert review of Eugene-native artist Japanese Breakfast’s performance at the McDonald Theatre in September 2018.
Editors note: Zach Price, who is mentioned in this story for his third-place finish for best news story, is the author of this article.
