ELLISVILLE – Jones College students won 16 awards at the 2024 Better News/Media Contest held in conjunction with the 27th annual O.C. McDavid Journalism Summit on March 20, in Ridgeland. Both community college and university newspapers competed in their respective categories, while in some categories, the two-year colleges had to compete against universities. Jones College once again received the General Excellence Award in the community college division which is based on the number of awards earned throughout the competition
“I am very impressed with our student’s success especially since we competed against university students who may have more experience than our freshman and sophomore students,” said Journalism instructor and advisor of JC’s student publications, Kelly Atwood. “Our staff took home the most awards and won the overall award which is a testament to their hard work.”
The Jones newspaper, the Radionian, swept the Best General News Story category, with Haidyn Houston of Raleigh winning third place for her story on the HomeTown remodeling of the President’s House on campus. The second-place award went to Destiny Velasco of Ellisville for her story on the tennis team helping with hurricane relief, and the first-place award went to Jaylynn Conner of Waynesboro for her story on AI technology in education.
Additionally, the Radionian came home with all three awards in the Best Feature Story, with Jayla Jones of Stonewall placing third for her story on a NICU fundraiser in memory of a JC faculty members’ infant, Myles Jaxon Jones. Jayla Jones also received second place for her story about a JC student who lost her eyesight. First place went to Jacarious Roberts of Hattiesburg, who wrote a story about a homeless student who found refuge at Jones.
“Receiving an award for my story was a very validating moment for me,” said JC sophomore Jacarious Roberts. “I was nervous but excited about the conference, but when the Radionian started winning awards I couldn’t help but be proud of us. The Radionian has helped boost my confidence every time I write a story. Throughout this experience I have also learned the importance of being vocal with my peers and accepting constructive criticism.”
All colleges competed in the Best Website category, with the Radionian winning first place. The judge’s remarks included, “Overall the best design with nice uses of photography. In a category where many contenders looked similar, this one stood out. Strong content seals the win.”
In Best Feature Photo, the Radionian took all three spots with Sami Jordan of Ocean Springs taking third place for her photo “Cozy by the Fireplace,” which looked like a professionally created sellable stock photo. Jordan also received second place for her photo of Philosophy instructor John Stockstill. Gabriela Moncivais of Laurel received first place for her photo of a cosmetology student working in the lab.
While competing against all colleges In the Best General News Photo category, Reagan McLeod of Waynesboro received third place for her photos of men’s basketball, and Ella Thomas of Laurel received first place for her action shots of men’s soccer.
The following students competed against both university and community college students and received accolades. In the Best Sports Feature category, Boo Mills of Laughton England placed third for her story on soccer player Hilary Jaen. In the Best General Interest Column category, Rylee Burks of Picayune placed third for her column on Cheap College Eats for students. Haley Shepherd of Petal received third place for her Color Run photo in the Best Sports Photo competition and in the Best Use of Video category, Jayla Jones received third place for the NICU memorial fundraiser.
The awards competition and summit are funded by the McDavid Fund of the Mississippi Press Foundation. The Summit included guest speakers from the Roy Howard Center for Community Journalism, photojournalist Chris Todd and Mississippi Today’s Marshall Ramsey.
Students can apply for positions on the Radionian newspaper, broadcasting or yearbook classes by emailing Jones College student publications advisor, Kelly Atwood at Kelly.atwood@jcjc.edu
