The Observer earned third place in the Division I “Newspaper of the Year” category at the 2014 Indiana Collegiate Press Association (ICPA) awards ceremony Saturday at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Staff members took home 15 other awards. The Observer’s new website, launched in January and designed by Assistant Managing Editor Kevin Song and former Graphics Editor Steph Wulz, won first place in both “Best Overall Website” and “Best Overall Website Design.” The site, ndsmcobserver.com, won third place in “Online Publication of the Year.” The staff took third place in “Best Use of Facebook” in the online category. Viewpoint Editor and former Scene writer Gabriela Leskur won first place in “Best Entertainment Column” for her Sept. 10, 2013, column “How to avoid your ex on campus.” Associate Scene Editor Miko Malabute took first place in “Best Entertainment Feature Story” for “Breaking Bad’s R.J. Mitte talks disability” published Oct. 21, 2013. For “Best Entertainment Feature Story,” Scene Editor Allie Tollaksen won second place for her Jan. 22 piece “John Jeremiah Sullivan.” Columnist Matt Matt Miklavic took first place in “Best Opinion Column” for his April 26, 2013, column “Hold on to hope.” Two submissions placed in the “Best Video” category. Videographer Wei Cao won second place for “Thanksgiving at Notre Dame,” published Dec. 4, 2013, and former Multimedia Editor Colby Hoyer won third place for her Oct. 29, 2013, video “Notre Dame Women’s Boxing.” Former Assistant Managing Editor Marisa Iati won third place in “Best News Feature Story” for “My brother’s and my sister’s keeper,” which was published Oct. 8, 2013, as the second installment of a three-part series on mental health at Notre Dame. Former editor-in-chief Andrew Gastelum earned second place in the “Best Sports Column” category for his Nov. 11, 2013, column “Everything catches up to ND in crucial loss.” Two entries placed in the “Best Sports News Story” category. Former Sports Editor Mike Monaco and former Assistant Managing Editor Matthew DeFranks won second place for “Swarbrick talks apparel, stadium expansion and basketball practice facility.” Assistant Managing Editor Isaac Lorton took third place for “Thunderstruck.” The Sports Department earned second place in the “Best Stand Alone/Pull Out Section” for the Irish Insider “The Four-Year Plan.” Other Notre Dame publications represented at ICPA included Scholastic in the news magazine category, Dome in the Division I Yearbook category and Juggler in the literary magazine category. Scholastic took first place in “News Magazine of the Year” and brought home 27 additional awards. Dome shares first place in the “Division I Yearbook of the Year” category with Indiana University’s Arbutus and returned with 12 other awards. The Juggler tied for third place in “Literary Magazine of the Year” with Lighter from Valparaiso University and Red Cents from Goshen College and earned five more awards. The Observer’s award-winning submissions are available on its website.
