Magnet Tribune Garners National Award
Written by Post Public Information Representative, Sep 16, 2009, 0 Comments
Courtesy Roberto Treviño,
The Vidal M. Trevino School of Communications and Fine Arts student newspaper, The Magnet Tribune, recently received a national award from the National Scholastic Press Association. For the 13th year in a row, the Magnet Tribune was recognized with the NSPA’s honor rating of First Class Award, for newspapers published during the 2008-2009 school year.
The newspaper, under the direction of VMT Journalism Instructor and newspaper sponsor Mark Weber, earned an overall score of 3,210 points with two marks of distinction by NSPA judges for their exemplary work. Judges use the Mark of Distinction as a way to recognize outstanding work in a category.
The two categories for Marks of Distinction included Coverage and Content, and Leadership. The Magnet tribune received a score of 900 out of a possible 1000 for Coverage and Content and in Leadership a score of 475 out of 500.
We were surprised when Laredo got chosen. The bigger cities usually win. It was awesome,” said Amy Perez, Magnet Tribune Staff Writer. “We did an outstanding job, once again.”
The Magnet Tribune received kudos from the judges for their individual human interest stories about individual people such as a physician, new director, bicycling teacher, as well as, their section on fashion. The NSPA publication critique service also provided students feedback on the strengths of the paper as well as, the latest technology, photography and layout design trends to help improve their publication.
It just shows all our hard work has paid off,” stated Tanya Salas, Magnet Tribune Staff Writer. “We want to continue the cycle Mr. Weber has established of producing a great newspaper.”
According to Weber, the work ethic of the students has paid off. “They are such a positive group to work with. They are always striving to do their best.”
Students who are on staff and participated with the production of the Magnet Tribune are enrolled in journalism and photography classes at VMT.
“This year, we plan to incorporate elements of converging media into the journalism program at VMT. The public will see new and exciting elements to make the Magnet Tribune even better,” stated Weber. “We are going to incorporate the Internet. This is the direction journalism is evolving, and it is important to keep our students on the leading edge of progress.”
The Magnet Tribune is planning on publishing six issues this school year, one every six weeks. The paper is currently printed by the Laredo Morning Times and after October 5, will be printed in San Antonio by the San Antonio Express News. Copies of the Magnet Tribune can be found at VMT, LISD classrooms and administrative offices, plus other high schools and colleges around town.
