The Observer received 30 awards at the 2019 annual Indiana Collegiate Press Association (ICPA) awards in Indianapolis Saturday, including second place in the Division I Newspaper of the Year category and second place for Best Overall Website Design.
The News department took home five awards, including first place in the Best Feature Story category for former Managing Editor Katie Galioto’s feature piece about Club Fever closing.
Additionally, News also took first in the Best News or Feature Series for the Election Observer series covering the 2018 midterm elections, written by Editor-in-Chief Kelli Smith, former Assistant Managing Editor and current senior news writer Lucas Masin-Moyer, incoming News Editor Tom Naatz, current Assistant Managing Editor Mary Steurer and news writer Gina Twardosz.
The Observer News department also won second in the same category for The Observer’s coverage of low-socioeconomic statusstudents'experiences by former Saint Mary’s Editor Jordan Cockrum, current Assistant Managing Editor Natalie Weber, former Assistant Managing Editor Megan Valley and news writer Gina Twardosz.
Smith, along with Weber and Naatz, also took first place for Best Continuous Coverage of a Single Story for their coverage of Irish 4 Reproductive Health on Notre Dame’s campus.
Additionally, former Editor-In-Chief and senior news writer Courtney Becker won second place in the Best In-Depth Story category for her analysis of the 2018 student government elections.
The Sports department took home three awards. Former Managing Editor and current senior sports writer Tobias Hoonhout won first place for Best Sports Column for his breakdown of the Notre Dame hockey team’s loss in the Frozen Four. Former sports writer Daniel O’Boyle won third place in the same category for his column about Notre Dame women’s basketball.
The sports department also received third place in the Best Sports Page category for page 12 of the print edition for March 27, 2018.
The Scene Department received six awards, including first place in the Best Review category awarded to scene writer Nick Ottone for his review, of both “Nanette” and “The Tale.” Scene Editor Mike Donovan received second place in this category for his review of Mount Eerie’s album “Now Only.”
Former Scene Editor and senior scene writer Nora McGreevy and former Scene Editor Adam Ramos also won a first prize for Best Entertainment story for their feature on Jacob Titus, a South Bend photographer. McGreevy, along with former Associate Scene Editor Brian Boylen and scene writer Carlos De Loera won second place in Best Entertainment Story, for their preview of the Garth Brooks concert.
Current Associate Scene Editor Ryan Israel won third place in the Best Entertainment Column category for his piece on the Wendy’s rap.
As for multimedia, McGreevy and scene writer Adrianna Fazio won third place in the Best Video category for their video about rapper and Notre Dame student Ladibree.
In the Viewpoint section, the Observer Editorial Board won first place for Best Staff Editorial for the editorial calling to remove Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s honorary degree. The Observer Editorial Board also won second place in the same category for “Observer Editorial: Belles deserve better.”
Cartoonist Bailee Egan also received first place in the Best Editorial Cartoon category for "Wingin' It" on page 8 of the edition for Nov. 2, 2018.
For the photo department, former Photo Editor and current Associate Photo Editor Ann Curtis received first place for Best News Photo for her photo of President Donald Trump speaking in Elkhart, Ind.
Curtis also won second place in Best Sports Photo for her photo of Irish quarterback, Ian Book, in the Syracuse game.Current photo editor Anna Mason received third placein this category for her photo of Jafar Armstrong.
Photographer Michelle Mehalas received third place in the Best Feature Photo category for her photo of the “Rudy” movie watch on the football field.
The Graphics Department received two awards. Current Graphics Editor Diane Park received first place for Best Feature Page — along with Brian Boylen and Carlos De Loera — for page 5 of the Sept. 21, 2018 edition. Park — along with Nora McGreevy, Charlie Kenney and Carlos De Loera — also won third place for Best Feature Page for page 5 of the Oct. 5, 2018 edition.
For the advertising department, Alexandra Pucillo and Dominique DeMoe received third place in the Best Rate Card category for The Observer's rate card.
The Observer also received third place in the Best Themed Issue for the 2018 Welcome Weekend edition. They also received second place in Best Overall Design edition for April 16, 2018 and third place for the edition for Oct. 8, 2018.
