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Daily and Ethos make history earning Gold Crowns

By Lori Runkle
Greenlee Web Team

For the first time in Iowa State history, the Iowa State Daily and Ethos magazine have been awarded Gold Crowns from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, marking them as two of the best student publications in the nation, said Daily adviser Mark Witherspoon.

Ethos and Daily staff members accepted the awards in March at the College Media Advisers Spring Convention in New York.

The Gold Crowns are given to the best college and high school newspapers, magazines, yearbooks, and radio and television stations in the nation. In addition, Gold Circle awards were presented to individual staff members.

Ethos Art Director Ashlee Dowd, a senior majoring in graphic design, placed second, third and was given a certificate of merit for best spread design. She also blitzed the award for best typography on a page or a spread, placing first, second and third.

Dowd and Ethos Editor Charlie Weaver, a senior majoring in journalism and mass communication, shared the first-place award for best use of typography throughout the magazine.

Ethos Managing Editor Shauna Stephenson, a senior majoring in journalism and mass communication, won the best color photograph category.

Iowa State Daily

The Iowa State Daily staff also earned a certificate of merit in the single subject presentation color category.

Daily Editor in Chief Lucas Grundmeier, a senior majoring in journalism and mass communication, said the spring 2004 issues of the Daily were entered into the competition for the Gold Crown Award.

Coverage of the 2004 VEISHEA riots by the Daily’s photojournalists and the political reporting on presidential campaign helped to earn the Gold Crown award, he said.

"The Daily gets great students from the Greenlee School and Mark Witherspoon is our adviser,” Grundmeier said. “There is a long-standing tradition of putting in crazy hours [to get the job done] and making sure that people are ready for leadership positions.”

One of Grundmeier’s responsibilities as editor is to manage the paper’s $1.5 million budget.

"The advertising staff makes money for us to spend,” he said when explaining the Daily raises about $1.4 million of its total budget from advertising. “That gives us a lot of freedom.”

Grundmeier, who tentatively plans to pursue community reporting after he graduates in August, said some things surprised him about being the editor of the Daily.

"I was surprised that I would have the opportunity to develop long-lasting relationships and friendships,” he said. These friendships chimed in during the interview when members of the Daily staff playfully interrupted our conversation with good-natured teasing.

Another thing that pleasantly surprised Grundmeier was the leadership skills he developed on the job. “I’ve enjoyed having the last say” about what appears in the paper and what doesn’t, he said.

When asked how he handles the pressure of being both a journalism student and a newspaper editor, Grundmeier replied, “Knowing that it won’t last forever. Being in my 20s and getting away with a little sleep.”

Ethos

Weaver also attended the College Media Advisor’s Convention. Ethos was “judged on everything that we do,” Weaver said. “Writing, editing, advertising and design were all evaluated.”

Weaver, who shared a Gold Circle award with Dowd for best typography throughout the magazine, explained “typography helps readers navigate through the magazine. Typography needs to be consistent.

"You don’t want each designer going their own direction,” he said. “The tighter your font selections [one or two types of font] throughout, the more uncluttered, thought out, and consistent” your magazine will be.

Weaver said Ethos is unique in that “it is completely run by students. We ground everything in the magazine so it’s relevant to the Iowa State community.”

The staff finds interesting stories that you wouldn’t see in the Daily and “the sex column is risqué,” he said.

Weaver, an Ethos editor since January, said he enjoys learning about the business side of the magazine, including the budget approval process. Securing the budget for Ethos required Weaver to meet once with the Government of the Student Body and twice with the GSB Finance Committee to answer questions that student senators had about the magazine’s budget proposal.

"The amount for every issue [of Ethos] we print is $2.66,” he said. "They vote whether to buy a subscription for the student body.”

Weaver, who was the assistant art director for Ethos last year, said he was mostly concerned with layout and design in that position. As editor, “you get to watch the magazine evolve as a whole,” he said.

"There are 27,000 students at Iowa State and 36 pages per issue. You want it to be read by as many people as possible all the way through.”

Weaver stressed that a successful student publication must meet deadlines.

"Every department depends on every other department to function. The public relations department plans events around the release of the magazine,” so it has to be ready by the deadline.

"It’s a symbiotic relationship between the editorial, advertising, and public relations departments.”

Weaver said he hopes to graduate in August and had advice for future editors of Ethos.

"It’s part of our responsibility to make our own way. We are building on what has been established in years past … Every decision you make today affects the future of the magazine whether you’re here or not.”

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