Aaron Mansfield, Brian Keschinger, Lisa Khoury and Chad Cooper
Three former editors and one current editor of The Spectrum have been nominated as finalists for award categories with the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) and the College Media Association (CMA).
On Sept. 22, ACP announced Lisa Khoury, former managing editor, as a finalist for the Story of the Year category for her “Animal Heights” piece. Brian Keschinger, former creative director, created a cover spread of Khalil Mack that is a finalist for Design of the Year. Chad Cooper, senior photo editor, is a Photo Excellence finalist for his photo of a student break dancing.
CMA also announced Aaron Mansfield, former editor in chief, as sports finalist in the 2013-14 Pinnacle awards for Best Sports Columnist. Keschinger’s Khalil Mack cover spread is also a CMA Design finalist for Best Newspaper Sports Page/Spread.
“I’ve known for a long time how special and great this paper is,” said Sara DiNatale, editor in chief of The Spectrum. “But getting that recognition on a national level just shows the public the secret of The Spectrum.”
Mansfield, now studying sports management in a master’s program at University of Massachusetts Amherst, said it was a joy for him to hear his former editors were finalists for national awards.
“During my time at the paper, The Spectrum was loaded with talent,” he said. “These three folks were among the most gifted, no doubt, but also separated themselves with persistence. They floored me on a daily basis. It was a special day for me to hear about their recognition.”
The Spectrum has won 14 national awards in the past four years.
“These awards validate the hard work these students have done and proves our students can compete nationally with schools that have larger programs,” said Jody Kleinberg Biehl, director of UB’s Journalism Certificate Program and adviser to The Spectrum.
UB offers a certificate program in journalism and not a major or minor.
Last semester, Mansfield won a Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Mark of Excellence award for his sports columns. He also received a SPJ Mark of Excellence Award with Sam Fernando, former senior news editor, for general news reporting.
Khoury received an SPJ Mark of Excellence Award for in-depth reporting and earned first place for the Camayak Student Media Competition Award in Best Investigative Journalism Production for her article “The Heights of Fear” in 2013.
One year later, her investigative piece “Animal Heights” is an ACP finalist for Story of the Year.
“I spent seven months writing ‘Animal Heights,’ so after you pour your heart and soul into something, it feels great when others recognize your hard work and want to award you for it,” Khoury said.
The announcement of the photo excellence nomination surprised Cooper because he did not expect to win any photo awards after not hearing from other large competitions.
“It’s really cool to finally have an award for the photo desk and also for Brian to have a creative award because that’s the first time we’ve had anything on the creative side of awards,” he said. “It’s always been writing pieces. Hopefully one of the four or all four of us can bring home first place.”
Keschinger, now studying game development at DePaul University, said being a finalist justified all the late nights in the office. For the Khalil Mack spread, he bounced ideas for the spread with Mansfield a month before the issue ran. They took inspiration from different EA sports video game covers designs.
“I don't think it's a coincidence that more than one of us was nominated,” Khoury said. “We may have been working on separate stories, photos or projects, but our passion for journalism was contagious in that newsroom and we motivated each other.”
DiNatale said in the time she has been with the paper, she has seen a lot of growth and expansion. She hopes the staff can continue to garner similar nominations in the future.
“I’m just really proud of everyone who was involved in making these nominations possible,” she said.
email: news@ubspectrum.com
