Best Newspaper
Private Colleges & Universities

Winner: The Avion, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univ.
Runner-Up: The Reporter, Stetson University
Honorable Mention: The Gargoyle Flagler College

Winner
The Avion–
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Take a school filled with engineers and then add a student newspaper. What do you get? In most cases, a mess. Face it, engineers aren’t generally known for their creative writing abilities. But at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, that same combination yields The Avion, Florida Leader’s reigning “best newspaper” for private universities.

With a combination of crisp photos, strict modular design, appealing fonts, and visually balanced pages, the weekly broadsheet is one of the cleanest and most-attractive papers in Florida. And the editors do it without a lot of flash or glitz. You’ll rarely see any intricate layouts or text-wrapped graphics, but The Avion has a firm foundation in the basic principles of great newspaper design, and the editors apply that knowledge consistently. “The significant thing between this year’s staff and last year’s is that there wasn’t much of a change,” says Advisor Tom Vickers. “Because we were able to keep much of our staff, the paper remained consistent.”

One of the most important aspects of any newspaper is meeting the needs of its readers, and The Avion understands and applies this principle better than any other paper in the state. “Aeronautica” and “Space Technology,” two regular sections that work almost like trade magazines covering everything from new aerospace technology and job market updates to shuttle launches and astronaut profiles, cater directly to the needs of a student population where 75 percent are headed into the aerospace industry. “The Aeronautica section definitely stands out in the minds of not only the students but also the faculty and staff at ERAU,” says Todd Fortier, editor in chief. “It’s amazing to hear professors actually referencing the accuracy of Aeronautica articles in classes.”

Vickers says the paper has made a conscious effort this year to improve its 6,000 circulation by offering subscriptions to alumni and shipping issues to satellite campuses. “A lot of people aren’t aware that ERAU has about a 100 remote sites around the country and the world,” he says. “The [alumni] are sticking with us, and that aspect of distribution is growing every year.”

Readership has also improved on ERAU’s main campus because of several hot topics being debated between the administration and students. The Avion is leading a campaign to address the school’s lack of parking—a problem created when several new building were built without additional student parking space. “Most school papers deliver information to students, but they don’t seem to interact with the student body in a true dynamic solution,” says Shaun Guevarra, SGA president. “The Avion has never backed down from the opportunity to challenge the school, the SGA, or any other system that’s in place.”

Even though ERAU isn’t known for its athletics, The Avion’s sports section is one of its strongest departments. Besides the adequate writing, the true heroes of the sports page are the absorbing photos that express the actions and emotions of the players. Photographers such as Mariano Rosales and Dave Wong capture the vividness of ERAU athletics from unique angles without sacrificing clarity.

The Avion’s biggest weakness by far is its poor copy editing. The average issue is riddled with “AP style errors”, missing words, and misplaced or absent commas. With the abundance of errors, it seems like the editors don’t read the articles before they go to print. However, in the paper’s defense, most engineering majors probably don’t notice the mistakes anyway.

Contact Fortier at editorinchief@avionnewspaper.com, Guevarra at sgapres@erau.edu, Vickers at vickerst@erau.edu, or visit www.avionnewspaper.com.

Runner-up
The Reporter—Stetson University
With a small staff of only 16 and no established advisor—they currently have an interim one and will have a new advisor in fall 2003—Stetson University’s Reporter consistently produces a first-rate weekly broadsheet covering all aspects of campus life. “Given the resources, the quality of the paper is very good, especially for a weekly production cycle,” says Darald Stubbs, interim advisor. “The staff is very dedicated and works very hard and creatively to produce a high-quality publication.”

Even though The Reporter doesn’t have color and the photo quality is rough at best, the paper’s design is functional and effective, making the most out of its limited resources.

The paper’s biggest weakness by far is its news section, which has more fluff than most marshmallows. However, how much hard news can a campus of 3,000 really have? The Reporter makes up for its lack of news by having a well-written and well-balanced “Opinions” section. “The student and faculty response to and interaction with the Opinions section speaks for its popularity,” says Teresa Marie Schwarz, editor in chief. “The paper has stimulated discussion and change through criticisms of the university made by staff in our editorials and columns. The Opinions section gives our campus a voice.”

The “Life” and “Et cetera” sections, also key Reporter components, feature strong leads, interesting articles, and an abundance of humor. The two departments draw in a regular crowd of adoring readers.

Over the past year, both the paper and the SGA have worked hard to improve their historically bad relationship. “The Reporter used to be viewed as anti-SGA, but through fair coverage and open communication between the editor in chief and the SGA president, that image has improved tremendously,” Schwarz says. And she isn’t the only one who has seen an improvement in the relationship. “Teresa and I have kept a very professional and friendly attitude to our positions,” says Jonathan Martin, SGA president. “We both realize that we’re in our positions for the students. In order for the administration to listen to either of us, we have to be professional and work together.”

It doesn’t hurt that Martin also recognizes how much power the paper has on campus. “Every Wednesday, nearly every student on campus has a copy of The Reporter. It’s the only thing that gets the attention of the entire campus.”

Contact Stubbs at dstubbs@stetson.edu, Schwarz at tschwarz@stetson.edu, Martin at jamartin@stetson.edu, or visit http://reporter.stetson.edu.

Honorable Mention
The Gargoyle—Flagler College
On first inspection, Flagler College’s Gargoyle looks more like a newsletter than a newspaper. Stories in the news section often are short and read more like press releases than news articles. However, opening the paper to the center pages is like discovering a whole new publication.

Every issue contains a center-spread feature layout covering themes such as community service, voter registration, and local art. The pages are nicely designed and feature more in-depth articles than you’ll find anywhere else in the paper.

The quality journalism continues in the “Arts and Entertainment” section, where interesting music and movie reviews and well-thought-out columns punctuate the difference in quality between the news and features writing. The sports section also has found some success through its sports previews, where it highlights the players for an upcoming season.

What’s most important about The Gargoyle, however, is that it’s accomplishing the goal of every paper—reaching its audience. “There are never any leftover copies to be found on campus within a few days of putting out an issue,” says Barbara Sachs Sloan, advisor. “Students, faculty, and staff are seen all over campus with the issue open, reading it.”

Contact Sloan at webmaster@flagler.edu.