The Daily Universe, BYU’s student newspaper, won 28 awards from the 2019 National Newspaper Association Contest, including first place for General Excellence in the college division and first place for Best Newspaper Website in the daily and non-daily college division.
“The Universe is like the perfect window into campus, with thorough and broad coverage of what’s happening and what matters to students. The staff is serving its readership very well,” read one of the judge’s comments for the General Excellence category.
The Universe took home several individual and staff awards for first place, second place, third place and honorable mention.
Other first place winners:
- Aaron Fitzner: Best Sports Story, NCAA comes down hard on BYU again with Childs’ suspension
- Kaitlyn Bancroft: Social Media Journalism, Restore Honor, others react to BYU Honor Code Office policy changes
- Kaitlyn Bancroft: Best Business Story, Censorship, soft power and Chinese-language newspapers in the U.S.
- Harriet Norcross: Best Non-Profile Feature, BYU women face social pressure to serve full-time missions
Second place:
- Jenna Alton: Rookie of the Year
- Jenna Alton: Best Business Feature, Paid family leave movement gains traction in legislation, workforce
- Jenna Alton: Best Health Series, Anti-vaccination movement threatens global health
- Josh Carter: Best Environmental Story, Lake Powell’s water levels on the rise — for now
- Aaron Fitzner: Best Sports Story, Triumph of the Spirit — BYU women’s rugby wins national championship
- Hannah Miner: Best Online Slideshow, Gymnastics: 2018-2019 season in review
- Sports Staff: Best Sports Section
- Staff: Best Family/Living Section
Third place:
- Jenna Alton: Best Education/Literacy Story, Toddlers and technology: What parents need to know about raising children in the generation of tech
- Kaitlyn Bancroft: Best Profile Feature Story. How a former BYU-football player has been combining sports and sculpture for nearly 40 years
- Kaitlyn Bancroft: Best Feature Series, How Utah’s child care challenges impact working parents
- Emma Benson: Best Non-profile Feature, How to respectfully disagree
- Preston Crawley: Best Feature Photo, Provo mayor renames Bulldog Boulevard to Cougar Boulevard
- Staff: Best Use of Double Truck, LDS General Conference
- Staff: Community Service Award, BYU Honor Code protests coverage
- Riley Waldman: Best Environmental Story, Combatting, understanding Utah’s water crisis
Honorable Mention:
- Emma Benson: Best Performing Arts Story, Church leaders, cast and crew express excitement for upcoming Book of Mormon videos
- Josh Carter: Best Editorial Page, BYU Honor Code protests
- Josh Carter: Best Environmental Story, Utah Lake Commission works on solving algal blooms, attracting more visitors
- Sahalie Donaldson: Best Non-profile Feature, Hawaiians work to save language
- Lauren Lethbridge: Best Business Story, Locally owned Lime Ricki struggles against Chinese knockoffs
- Staff: Best Headline Writing
