Phoenix wins best newspaper award

April 14, 2021

The Loyola Phoenix was recently named the best college newspaper in the Midwest by the Society of Professional Journalists.

The Phoenix won Best All-Around Student Newspaper (large, 10,000+ students) at the 2021 Society of Professional Journalists Region 5 Mark of Excellence Awards, beating out college newspapers in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky, including the Daily Northwestern at Northwestern University.

"I'm so honored our staff has received such a prestigious award and proud to be a part of The Phoenix,” said Editor-in-Chief Mary Chappell. “It's rewarding to see the hard work of our staff compete with other high-quality student newspapers and culminate into such a high honor."

The Phoenix placed or won in several categories in the SPJ contest.  Kayleigh Padar, Madison Savedra, Katie Anthony and Mary Chappell’s story, “Arrested protestors released after protests near Loyola’s Lake Shore campus,” was a finalist in the Breaking News Reporting (large, 10,000+ students) category.

Madison Savedra’s story, “Loyola professor still teaching after evidence of ‘unprofessional and sexual harassing behavior,’” was a finalist in the In-Depth Reporting (large, 10,000+ students) category

Chappell was a finalist in the General Column Writing (large, 10,000+ students) category.

Assistant Arts and Entertainment Editor Zack Miller’s photograph, “Person handcuffed during Chicago’s George Floyd protests,” won in the Breaking-News Photography (large, 10,000+ students) category.