Tallahassee State College's student-produced newspaper - "The Talon" - is a real award winner. The publication brought home 5 statewide honors from the Florida
College System Publications Association annual conference, which took place in November.
TSC Journalism Professor Reggie Grant is the advisor for The Talon. He said the publication faced tough competition from a number of other student papers statewide.
"Typically, there are about 8 who compete and there are 19 categories they compete in, such as news story, in-depth-reporting, feature story, things like that. So I was very happy when I found out that we got 5 awards."
The Talon won 2 third-place prizes in the General Column and Sports Photo categories; a second-place award in the Picture Story category; and 2 first-place honors for In-Depth Reporting and Feature Photo categories.
For Talon Co-Editor Zoe Senior, the winning was especially sweet.
"It's very validating! It validates your hard work and everything that you're worked for throughout the semester. And it's very helpful to see other peoples' feedback: 'Yeah! You did a good job!' and it makes you feel really good about yourself."
But, along with the awards came some profound changes. The Talon, produced as a physical newspaper from the beginning, went 100% virtual this year. Professor Grant said it was a bittersweet decision.
"There was a certain amount of guilt that I felt because The Talon had been published for many decades before I showed up. And then here I am, 'Oh, yeah. We don't need to do this anymore.'"
Talon staffer Anna Bullock had worried dropping the traditional medium might put The Talon at a competitive disadvantage and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't.
"It was something I didn't expect because I saw all these different colleges have these very traditional print newspapers. But just having an online thing, it showed we were doing something right, getting the awards and being recognized for our work, even though it wasn't a traditional newspaper, still being recognized, I thought that was really cool."
But in place of the old paper is a brand-new TV news magazine. Grant - as well as The Talon staff - believes that will mean even more recognition in next year's round of awards. Because, said Talon staffer William Dickey, the basics of journalism don't change, no matter where the content winds up. Dickey savors his role as a classic street reporter, on the scene, asking the tough questions, determined to get the story.
"I hate to use the word 'attack,' but I attack 'em. Five or six questions right there. They're so stunned and surprised. And my questions go into depth: how did you get here? Where did you go? The five 'who, what, where, when and why' I need to know it now. I can't email you. I need to know it NOW!"
It's an approach that keeps The Talon on top of its game as an award-winning student news source that keeps up with the times.
