Four Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College students won awards in The Better Newspaper Contest, sponsored by the Mississippi Press Association. The students, staff members of the Perkinston Campus student newspaper Bulldog Barks, were honored at the 11th Annual O.C. McDavid Journalism Conference held in Ridgeland on March 25.
Brittany Seals won second place for Best Feature Photo; Brandon Davis won third place for Best General News Photo; Carolina Mitchell won third place for Best Sports Column; and Alexis Boucher won an honorable mention for Best Sports News Story.
“We were so excited about winning, especially that four of us won,” said Boucher, Bulldog Barks editor. “I think it validates the work we’re doing on the newspaper and shows that we have been contributing something worthy to the students on campus. That feels great.”
Carissa Williams, coordinator of Student Life at the Perkinston Campus and Bulldog Barks sponsor, said that newspaper was revived in January 2009 after interest was expressed for a campus newspaper once again. She said the students volunteer to work on the newspaper staff. “I think these awards show that we have a lot of potential. It proves we are doing good work,” she said.
Boucher, a freshman elementary education major, said that working on a newspaper was not something she wanted to do initially. “I worked on the newspaper in high school because my dad really wanted me to do it. I hated it at first but have grown to enjoy it.”
Carolina Mitchell, a sophomore who plans to major in sports studies and broadcast communication, works on the newspaper because it fits in with her career goals. “We didn’t have a newspaper in high school, so I decided to join the newspaper here. For students who are pursuing careers in journalism, the experience of working on a student newspaper is invaluable.”
Brandon Davis, a freshman science major, loves photography and hopes to be an extreme sports photographer. “I’d love to shoot skateboarding, snowboarding and other extreme sports, even if it’s only a hobby.”
Brittany Seals, also a freshman, said she feels the same way. “Photography is so much fun. I’ve only been doing it for about two years, but that’s the career I want. After finishing college at Gulf Coast, I want to major in fine art with an emphasis in photography.”
The Bulldog Barks newspaper is published six times during the academic school year. Students can find copies of the newspaper around campus including the Student Center, Cafeteria and Library.
