The Observer won 21 awards at the 2017 Indiana Collegiate Press Association (ICPA) awards Saturday in Indianapolis, including third place in the Division I Newspaper of the Year category and first place in the Best Overall Website category.
The News department won second and third places for Best Non-Deadline News Story for Managing Editor Katie Galioto’s coverage of the death of Notre Dame student Theresa Sagartz and News Editor Courtney Becker’s story about increased competition for internships in the Mendoza College of Business, respectively.
Galioto also won second place for Best Feature Story for her feature remembering South Dining Hall monitor John Ritschard, and the department additionally won third place for its coverage of the 2016LaetareMedaldecision in the Best Continuous Coverage of a Single Story category.
The Sports department won three awards, including first place in Best Breaking News Reporting for its coverage of the arrests of six Notre Dame football players in two separate incidents on one night.
Editor-in-Chief Ben Padanilam won first place in the Best Sports Column category for his column arguing that head football coach Brian Kelly should be fired after poor leadership last season and sports writer Renee Griffin won second place in Best Sports Feature Story for her piece “Meet Notre Dame’s emerging star receiver” about sophomore wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown.
The Scene department won four awards, including first place for former Scene Editor Erin McAuliffe’s piece “Frankie Cosmos moves on to ‘Next Thing’” in Best Review, and second place in the same category for former Online Editor Jimmy Kemper’s review of Usher’s “Hard II Love” album.
McAuliffe and Kemper also won third place for Best Podcast along with former Associate Scene Editor Kelly McGarry and Scene Writer Adam Ramos for their “Nirvanacast.” Scene Writer Matthew Macke won third place for his piece “Bottled nostalgia and the cultural feedback loop” in the Best Entertainment Column category.
The Photo department won first place for both Best Sports Photo and Best Feature Photo for Photo Editor Emmet Farnan’s photos of sophomore wide receiver C.J. Sanders and the men’s basketball team celebrating, respectively.
The Graphics department teamed up with the Photo department to take home third place for Best Special Section Cover for former Graphic Editor Susan Zhu and former Photo Editor Caitlyn Jordan’s “Breakout” Irish Insider cover.
The Viewpoint section won first place for Best Opinion Column for Jordan Ryan’s piece “Out of many, one.”
The 2016-2017 Editorial Board won second place for Best Staff Editorial for its piece on sexual assault alerts, “It was timely.”
The Observer also took home third place for Best Themed Issue for the 2016 Freshman Orientation Edition, second place for Best Overall Web Design and third place for Best Use of Twitter.
