Sul Ross Skyline Brings Home Four Statewide Awards
San Marcos – Sul Ross State University’s student newspaper, the Skyline, won four prestigious awards at the 2024 Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA) Convention, twice the number awarded at last year’s convention.
Skyline Editor Brooke Manuel won first place in In-Depth Reporting for her three-part series on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis, second place in the Critical Review category for her review of the HBO series, The Last of Us, and honorable mention in the Feature Story category for a piece she wrote about a study that was conducted by the SRSU Animal Science research program. Johanna Covington, the former editor of the Skyline, received second place in Breaking News for a story she wrote in March of 2023 after SRSU students and staff received an alert about an online threat that was made by a former SRSU student.
Manuel wrote the three-part series, America’s Shame: The Silent Tragedy of Indigenous Women, as a McNair scholar. The first installment tells three women’s, Mika Josephine Westwolf, Josefina Mojica Gonzales and Georginda Pierce, stories. Part two discusses the jurisdictional issues that commonly prevent MMIW cases from being solved, and part three offers potential remedies and solutions to the crisis.
“I worked on America’s Shame: The Silent Tragedy of Indigenous Women for about ten months. I chose to do my McNair research over MMIW, because a friend of mine, who was Indigenous, had recently passed away,” Manuel said. “I was never able to figure out how my friend passed, and her death may not have been an MMIW case, but when looking into her case, I discovered MMIW and started thinking about what I could do to help.”
Manuel knew she could use her gift of storytelling through journalism to help bring awareness to the issue.
“I knew that my series wouldn’t solve this centuries-old problem, but if I could inform just one person through my writing, then it would be worth it,” Manuel said.
Johanna Covington worked for the Skyline for nine semesters, five of which she served as Editor. She is now working at the Alpine Avalanche and will be graduating next month. Covington won second place in the Breaking News category for her story Breaking News: Sul Ross Alerts Campus to Online Threat from Former Student.
After SRSU sent an email out to faculty, staff and students in March of 2023, Covington worked diligently and filed a story just a few hours later providing the Sul Ross community with more information on the situation.
“It’s funny, because you stick your head down and dig your heals in, and get your job done. And the next day, there’s something else to report, and maybe no one mentions yesterday’s news. To get the story recognized is an honor. I’m glad the Skyline got our and Sul Ross’ name up there this award season,” Covington said.
In addition to winning first place in the In-Depth Reporting category, Manuel placed second in Critical Review for her piece titled The Last of Us: Existentialism in a Post-Apocalyptic World and honorable mention in the Feature Story category for a piece she wrote in August of 2023 entitled 2 Foals Given a Second Chance at Life Thanks to SRSU Animal Science Research Program.
“Getting to lead a group of such talented individuals is amazing. Although my name is on a few of those awards, I can’t take all the credit. Without my amazing staff, I would not be able to do what I do. It’s most definitely a group effort,” Manuel said.
The Skyline won two awards at the 2023 Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Convention, first place in the General News category and third place in the Editorial Cartoon category, so coming home with four awards this year tells us that the news we are providing the students of SRSU and the surrounding community is consistently improving.
Sidney Balman is the writer-in-residence at SRSU and the faculty advisor of student publications. His extensive experience as a war correspondent and daily journalist has proven beneficial in overseeing the Skyline over the last four years. His ability to provide one-on-one support to the Skyline staff and walk them through the steps to writing a quality piece of news has been paramount to the evolution of the newspaper.
“The Skyline, under the leadership of Johanna Covington, and now Brooke Manuel, has evolved over the past four years into a professional, focused journalism organization,” said Balman, who attended the 2024 TIPA conference. “We work hard every day to instill the highest standards of professionalism, independence, and transparency.”
The Texas Intercollegiate Press Association was founded in 1909. It is the oldest state collegiate press association in the nation and has grown into one of the largest and most respected collegiate groups in the country.