Student publications rack up 12 “best in nation” honors for the year

Five years ago, Baylor’s student publications (the Lariat newspaper, Round Up yearbook and Focus magazine) earned a total of 38 state and regional awards (though none were national). Not too shabby.

But that has actually proved to be the low mark since then, as the three staffs have seen increased recognition each year for five straight years. Honors continue to roll in for the 2010-11 academic year; just last week, the Round Up earned four more national awards, bringing the program’s total for the year to 133, including 37 national awards.

Of those, 35 are top-5 national finishes, including 12 “best in the nation,” first-place honors. Among the most prominent recognitions:

• The Lariat earned Gold Medalist Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for both the fall 2010 and spring 2011 semesters, as well as 20 individual Gold Circle Awards, and was named the best college newspaper in the state by the Houston Press Club.
• The Round Up was named Yearbook of the Year by Balfour (Taylor) Publishing Company and a Silver Medalist Award from Columbia.
• Focus earned a third-place Apple Award for the fall 2010 issue from the College Media Association at its spring 2011 conference in New York City.

Sic ’em, Baylor journalists!