By Rut Labrada 

Staff Writer

On an early Friday morning in March, 19 bleary-eyed staff writers and editors of the VSU Spectator were dressed in their business-casual finest—cardigans, skirts, khakis, and button-ups—as they walked down the bright streets of Athens, Georgia. 

The group was preparing to attend the Georgia College Press Association’s Better Newspaper contest, a yearly event where student newspapers from across the state compete for various journalistic awards and the title of the best newspaper of the year. 

The students’ destination was the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Library, located on the campus of the University of Georgia, where the competition is held every year. 

As students and panelists trickled in, the conference room quickly filled with around 100 student journalists, many of whom sipped on coffee or pulled out notebooks to prepare for the upcoming panels. 

The event, organized by GCPA Office Manager and Publications Editor Sean Ireland, began with the young journalist’s panel. Five rising young journalists spoke, including Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Averi Caldwell of The Griffin Daily News, Jesse Fraga of The Macon Telegraph, Rose Scoggins of The Hartwell Sun, and Kate Verity of The Covington News. 

Throughout the panel, the speakers answered questions about their education and their transition into professional careers in the field of journalism. They also gave advice to the attendees about how they could move forward in the industry after graduation. 

The VSU students felt particularly excited to see Burns, a former VSU Spectator journalist, share his insights with the audience. 

“My advice would be timing is everything. I’m sure every single one of you is talented. Life is about timing. You want to do whatever you can to position yourself to take advantage of it…. You never know when something is going to fall into place,” he said. 

Staff writer Adam Peachey commented on his thoughts on the event. 

“It was very eye opening to the future of journalism especially as we leave college and enter the job field,” he said. 

As the day progressed, the students participated in several other panels, where they learned about important topics in the field such as news deserts (communities with limited access to news coverage and information), community coverage, and more.  

However, for the students, the moment they had been waiting for did not start until 3p.m.: the awards ceremony, where the students would find out which of their works won for that year. 

As the auditorium hummed with excitement, Ireland addressed the students and began the ceremony. The VSU journalists grew more thrilled as they heard the words “The Spectator” several times. 

In total, The Spectator took home 11 awards in various categories. 

The school won third place in the following categories: Best Column, Best Sports Story, Best Editorial, Best News Article Based on Investigative Reporting, Layout and Design Excellence, Best Campus Community Service—Sports and Best Campus Community Service—News. 

The school placed second in Best Review in two separate divisions. 

Finally, the school took home first place in the categories Best Photo Essay and Best Entertainment Feature. 

As the day came to an end, the VSU students were filled with pride at receiving their various awards, but the students expressed determination to win many more in the next competition. 

Editor-in-Chief James Brown expressed that he was looking forward to seeing some improvement in the newspaper’s coverage of local events and their editorial articles, but that he was endlessly proud of his team. 

“Everybody showed up and they showed out, and I think we had a blast,” he said. 

He left a message for his staff members at The Spectator as he prepares for his graduation and exit from the team after spring semester. 

“Seeing them grow as journalists but also as people has been a one-of-a-kind experience…. Seeing all of this come to life has been amazing. I love my staff to death, and I want each and every one of them to know how much I care about them,” he said.