Southeast Arrow named finalist for three CMA Pinnacle awards

For the second year in a row the Arrow has been named a finalist for College Media Association Pinnacle awards.

The student-run newspaper is a finalist for Four-Year Less-Than-Weekly Newspaper of the Year, Best Feature Spread and Best Special Section: More than Four Pages.

The entry for Four-Year Less-Than-Weekly was produced by last year's staff. Former editor Kara Hartnett said the staff worked hard to change up how the Arrow covered news in the past.

“The staff worked endlessly to make the Arrow a better news source, and I’d say being a national competitor for a Pinnacle award after one year of hard work and progress is pretty incredible accomplishment,” Hartnett said. “I’m so proud of how far the Arrow came, and I am so happy to have had the hard working staff I did that made this all possible.”

The entry for Best Feature Spread was the Black History Month centerspread written by former digital managing editor Rachael Long and designed by former design editor Taria Graham. The spread was a piece on a former Southeast student, Kevin Windham, who at the time was running for a state representative position, and student Bennett Hendrix, who considered himself outspoken on many social issues.

“It feels great to be named a finalist and I am super glad the Black History Month centerspread was the one to be nominated out of all the stories I wrote last year,” Long said. “I think it touches on some important social issues,and I was glad to be able to work with Taria Graham on the design.”

The Arrow’s special section on opioid use in the Southeast region, “The Impact Zone,” was named a finalist for Best Special Section: More than Four Pages.

The section was written by Hartnett, Long and Matt Dollard, who was A&E editor last school and now editor.

“We put a lot a time and effort into telling that story and telling it right,” Dollard said.

The Arrow staff will be attending the College Media Association convention in Louisville in October. The awards ceremony will be during the convention on Friday, Oct. 26.