UK student media makes history at National College Media Convention

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 6, 2023) — KRNL Lifestyle and Fashion and the Kentucky Kernel won the most first-place awards in recent Kernel Media history for their work during the 2022-23 school year.

Both the Kernel and KRNL were recognized as two of the best student-led media organizations in the nation during the Fall National College Media Convention in Atlanta hosted by the Associated Collegiate Press and the College Media Association.

The Kernel won a multiplatform Pacemaker, placing the media outlet amongst the nation’s top 11 collegiate media in the category. The award recognizes work across all platforms the outlet utilizes including print, online, email newsletter, social media and audio/video. The Kernel also took home second place Pinnacle for Newspaper Website of the Year.

These multimedia wins come on the heels of the Kernel’s recent decision to move away from weekly printed editions to focus on digital-first publishing.

“We’re looking at doing different things with digital, with broadcasts, with audio to make us a more well-rounded media outlet, not just a newspaper,” said Ryan Craig, UK student media advisor, in an article posted by the Kentucky Kernel. “I think that it’s interesting that we got the Pacemaker for multiplatform, which means that’s our newspaper plus what we were doing digitally and on social media. And I really do think that’s kind of where we’re heading and it’s good to know that we got that level of recognition.”

KRNL also took home several awards, most notably, the Pinnacle for Feature Magazine of the Year. This award recognizes excellence in coverage, content, design, graphics, illustrations, photography, reporting, writing and editing. The magazine also won second place for Feature Magazine in the ACP Organizational Best of Show.

Along with these group awards, many students won individual awards. Pinnacle first place winners include Rayleigh Deaton for Best Headline (Any Medium), Allie Diggs for Best Magazine News Page/Spread and Rana Alsoufi for Best Profile. Pacemaker first place winners include staff, notably current editor-in-chief Hannah Stanley and former editor-in-chief Rayleigh Deaton, for Multimedia News Story of the Year in recognition of their multimedia coverage of the Hazelwood case, Raven Rolle for Social Media Reporting and Jack Weaver for Sports Photo.

“I feel like we were able to once again show to the nation that we are one of the better media outlets in the country,” Craig said in the Kernel article. “I feel like we’re going to keep improving, but it’s good to stop and take stock of what you’ve done in the last year.”

The full list of awards won by UK students at the convention can be found below.

PINNACLES

Organizational Pinnacles

• KRNL: First place for Feature Magazine of the Year
• Kentucky Kernel: Second place for Newspaper Website of the Year

Individual Pinnacles

• Allie Hall, Kentucky Kernel: Third place for Best Editorial Illustration
• Rayleigh Deaton, Kentucky Kernel: First place for Best Headline (Any Medium)
• Akhila Nadimpalli and Allie Hall, Kentucky Kernel: Third place for Best Literary Magazine Spread
• Allie Diggs and Abbey Purcell, KRNL: Honorable mention for Best Magazine Cover
• Allie Diggs, KRNL: Honorable mention for Best Magazine Feature Page/Spread
• Allie Diggs, KRNL: FirstpPlace for Best Magazine News Page/Spread
• Emme Schumacher, KRNL: Third place for Best Magazine Sports Page/Spread
• Samantha Money, Kentucky Kernel: Honorable mention for Best Sports Feature
• Grant Grubbs, Kentucky Kernel: Second place for Best Sports Multimedia Story
• Staff, Kentucky Kernel: Second place for Best Sports Section
• Staff, Kentucky Kernel: Third place for Best Breaking News Coverage
• Bryce Towle and Nate Lucas, Kentucky Kernel: Honorable mention for Best Coverage of Faith
• Emma Reilly, KRNL: Second place for Best Feature Story
• Staff, Kentucky Kernel: Third place for Best Multimedia Breaking News Story
• Rana Alsoufi, KRNL: First place for Best Profile
• Raven Rolle, Kentucky Kernel: Second place for Best Social Media Reporting
• Staff, Kentucky Kernel: Third place for Best Special Section/More than Four Pages
• Kendall Staton, Kentucky Kernel: Honorable mention for General News Email Newsletter

ACP BEST OF SHOW

Organizational Best of Show

• KRNL: Second place for Feature Magazine
• Kentucky Kernel: Third place for Website

Individual Best of Show

• Bree Cox, KRNL: Second place for Advertisement: Print, Online, Video, Audio
• Allie Diggs, KRNL: Sixth place for Design, Magazine
• Jack Weaver, Kentucky Kernel: Sixth place for Design, Yearbook
• Samuel Colmar, Kentucky Kernel: Fifth place for Photojournalism: News/Feature Photo
• Abbey Cutrer, Kentucky Kernel: Seventh place for Photojournalism: Sports Photo

ACP PACEMAKERS

Organizational Pacemakers

• Kentucky Kernel: 2023 Online Pacemaker finalists for four-year campuses
• Kentucky Kernel: 2023 Multiplatform Pacemakers/Four-year college/university

Individual Pacemakers

• Staff, Kentucky Kernel: First place for Multimedia News Story of the Year (Hazelwood)
• Jack Weaver, Kentucky Kernel: Honorable mention for Yearbook Cover Design
• Jack Weaver, Kentucky Kernel: Third place for Yearbook Page/Spread Design
• Raven Rolle, Kentucky Kernel: First place for Social Media Reporting
• Maria Rauh, Kentucky Kernel: Fifth place for News/Breaking News Photo
• Jack Weaver, Kentucky Kernel: Fourth place for Feature Photo
• Carter Skaggs, Kentucky Kernel: Honorable mention for Feature Photo
• Jack Weaver, Kentucky Kernel: First place for Sports Photo
• Olivia Hall, Kentucky Kernel: Fourth place for Sports Photo
• Editorial Board, Kentucky Kernel: Honorable mention for Editorial
• Alexis Baker, Rayleigh Deaton and Karrington Garland, Kentucky Kernel: Fourth place for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Reporting
• Rayleigh Deaton, Kentucky Kernel: Fifth place for Reporter of the Year