Student-journalists attend state convention
The South Texan (TST) staff has returned from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA) convention with 22 awards. The convention was held from March 24 to 26 in Fort Worth, Texas. This was the first convention held in person since 2019.
The TST staff won a total of 22 awards, including eight first place awards, at this year’s convention, competing in both a live and pre-published contest.
“In the pre-published category, we compete against schools of similar size (though our program is relatively small) while the live events place all schools together. Winning a live contest means our students beat contestants from Division I schools. I would place my students against any other school’s students any day,” Student Media Adviser for TST, KTAI and the Javelina Broadcast Network Nicole Morris said.
Five students participated in this year’s live event contests and brought home four awards. The remaining 18 awards were won in the pre-published contests.
“To win just one statewide award is an accomplishment, but to win 22 is overwhelming and awesome,” Morris said
Digital Editor for TST Erik Estrada placed first in the Live News Video contest.
“Placing first meant a lot to me,” he said. “I’ve never really felt as if I excelled at anything and felt as if I was losing my grip of things when it came to my work but winning first and beating some of the biggest schools in Texas really made me feel like I was doing something right and that I could be successful if I just kept working towards my goals.”
This is Estrada’s second semester on TST staff and his first participation in the TIPA convention.
“It was also nice to prove that you don’t need to attend a fancy school to be successful in what you do, all it takes is hard work, passion and friends that cheer you on every step of the way,” Estrada said.
The convention included several workshops with guest speakers and a roundtable for students to meet and discuss freely. An election was also held by student participants to fill officers for the TIPA student executive committee. Editor-in-Chief Ronni Reyna was elected secretary of the committee.
“I want to be able to make an impact to better this convention for students,” Reyna said, “and I am honored to serve.”
The convention concluded Saturday morning with an awards ceremony brunch at which students and advisers gathered to see and collect awards from the pre-published and live contest.
“This is something we’ve done well with over the years and Ms. Morris has done a wonderful job of really putting [students] forward and pushing [students] so that [they] do have this high-quality work and then other schools see that, especially when they show up and compete,” Department Chair for Art, Communication & Theatre Todd Lucas said
Morris gives much credit to her students, who she says work hard every day.
“As they always do, my student journalists made me extremely proud at this year’s convention. I am proud of them every day, win or lose, but winning these awards provides them validation that they are on the right paths,” Morris said.
The awards received included:
First Place:
Overall Design Newspaper – The South Texan
Breaking News – Aryssa Enriquez
Feature Story – Ronni Reyna
General News Multimedia Story – Rae Martinez, Susan Cortez, Luis Briseno, Emeri Drewry & Ronni Reyna
General News Video Story – Susan Cortez & Ronni Reyna
Multimedia Slide Show – Ronni Reyna & Rae Martinez
General News Audio Story – Rae Martinez
Second Place:
In-Depth Reporting – Makaylah Chavez
Podcast – Ronni Reyna, Joshua Mendez & Tiffany Hinojosa
Breaking News – Aryssa Enriquez
General News Audio Story – Amanda DeFrees
Third Place:
Special Edition (print) – Ronni Reyna & Gabriella Mastroianni
General News Video Story – Rae Martinez, Joshua Mendez, Susan Cortez & Erik Estrada
General News Story – Aryssa Enriquez
Critical Review – Gabriella Mastroianni
Sports Column – Dylan Sanchez
Honorable Mention
Overall Excellence Website – The South Texan
Overall Design Website – The South Texan
Live Contest Winners:
Live Video News – Erik Estrada, First Place
Print News Writing – Ronni Reyna, Third Place
Spanish News Writing – Rae Martinez, Honorable Mention
TV Announcing Spanish – Rae Martinez, Honorable Mention
