The Independent news staff placed 6th for the “Best of Show” award at the 2018 ACP/CMA National College Media Convention in Louisville, Kentucky.

The National College Media Convention is where college journalists and advisers attend practical and professional learning sessions led by high-profile keynote speakers and experts in the field. Students are trained to identify ways on how to improve their news writing, team management, and recruitment and retention efforts while also competing for awards.

The Independent received feedback on their newspaper during their critique, attended receptions and entered the “Best of Show” contest where they placed 6th.

News and Co-Managing Editor Nicole F. Anderson said the following sessions and events at the ACP/CMA convention were the most helpful: Newspaper Critique, Covering Campus Crime; Keeping the Law on Your Side; Avoiding the Privacy Trap and speaking to the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) lawyers.

“Speaking with the SPLC lawyers was extremely helpful,” Anderson said since she’s been working on a story and had some legal questions which the SPLC lawyers were able to answer.

The Independent is scheduled to attend the Illinois College Press Association Conference in January 2019 in Chicago, Illinois, and the ACP/CMBAM National College Journalism Convention in La Jolla, California, in March 2019 to compete against other universities in Illinois and in the nation.