MURRAY, Ky. – The Murray State News won seven Pinnacle Awards, including two first places, from the College Media Association during MediaFest in Washington, D.C., Oct. 15-18.
The Pinnacle Awards recognize top student media work. The contest attracted more than 3,300 entries across several enrollment divisions, with 1,165 finalists across eight categories.
Winners were:
- First place – Aly Adler, Ania Boutin and River Murt, breaking news multimedia coverage for the February 2025 power outage.
- First place – Ania Boutin, profile story, “Climbing to Freedom” in Gateway magazine.
- Third place – Elisha Butryn, print advertisement, Murray State Recruitment ad in Gateway magazine.
- Honorable mention – Kristopher Fister, sports photo, NCAA first round.
- Honorable mention – MacKenzie Rogers and Kristopher Fister, newspaper spread, a design about Racer basketball in the Jan. 25, 2025 edition.
- Honorable mention – Zackary Claggett, audio-video feature story, a story about a music business student.
- Emerging Advisor Award – Leigh Landini Wright, adviser and associate professor of journalism at Murray State
The News competes in Division II, a classification based on enrollment size (3,000 to 9,999 undergraduate students). Schools in this division include Pepperdine University, Tulane University, Vanderbilt University, Southeast Missouri State University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Southern Methodist University and Drake University.
“The Murray State News won three Pinnacles in 2024, and we’ve doubled that in 2025,” Wright said. “This shows that we continue to improve and that we can compete on a national level. These student journalists pursue excellence with every story, every photo, every video, every design.”
Zach Simmons, editor-in-chief, joined The News staff last year as sports editor. He praised the staff for their dedication.
“I am so happy with our staff and what they’ve put into this organization,” Simmons said. “Not just this year’s staff, but last year’s as well. The continued hard work ethic has carried over, and I’m really happy to be around such a dedicated crew.”
The News changed from a weekly printed newspaper with a website to a digital-first publication with a monthly newspaper in fall 2023. This change has allowed students to experience a digital-first news organization while still maintaining the tradition of a printed newspaper. The News also produces two magazines a year: Gateway, a glossy product that focuses on feature stories about western Kentucky, and Racer Guide, a print newsmagazine that serves as an orientation guide for new students.
Founded in 1927, The Murray State News is an award-winning student-led publication. The News is among the Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker Top 100 news organizations and has a long tradition of excellence. To read The News online, go to www.murraystatenews.org.
Photo: Leigh Landini Wright, adviser to The Murray State News and associate professor of journalism at Murray State, earned the Emerging Advisor Award, just one of seven Pinnacle Awards the team won at MediaFest.