The Tiger was awarded first place in general excellence at the South Carolina Press Association’s collegiate meeting in Clemson last Friday.
The state’s oldest collegiate newspaper beat out the University of South Carolina’s Daily Gamecock and Coastal Carolina University’s Chanticleer for first place.
This is the first time since 2015 that The Tiger has won the top honor from the SCPA.
In the comments for the 5,000 or more student category, the judge wrote that the newspaper covered a variety of important topics and that stories were well written. The editorial page and sports coverage were strong, the judge wrote.
“This is a reflection of all the hard work our team has put in this past year,” David Ferrara, former editor-in-chief of The Tiger, said. “It comes as no surprise that the late nights and limitless growth have paid off.”
Tiger staff also won 14 awards across 12 categories, including six first-place awards.
Natalie Peck, podcast editor, won first place column or editorial writing for her piece on CAPS’ lack of funding.
Jackson Copeland, art editor, won first place specialty page design for his Tiger Thanksgiving artwork in the Nov. 25, 2022 rivalry edition.
Katie Bradham, video editor, won first place video and third place photograph.
Matt Mynes, photo editor, won first and third place sports photograph for his shots of Clemson basketball and football.
Ferrara won first place website and third place advertisement.
Caroline Bridges, communications manager, won first place use of social media along with Ferrara.
Trey Bowe, former managing editor, won second place specialty page design for his layout on the Feb. 10, 2022 feature page.
The Tiger’s Editorial Board was awarded second place column or editorial writing for its editorial asking the University to build a new student union in place of the old one.
Justin Robertson, associate editor, won third place photo story for his collection of College GameDay shots.
Blake Mauro, incoming editor-in-chief, won third place news story for her coverage of student ticket scams in “A case of stolen identity.”
Griffin Cobb, senior reporter, won third place arts and entertainment story for his feature of local band DÅZR.
“I don’t see our progress stopping or slowing anytime soon,” Mauro said. “We might have just won best student newspaper in South Carolina, but we’re not stopping there.”
Mauro intends on leading The Tiger to become a nationally ranked and award-winning newspaper during her term as editor, she said.
An earlier version of this article said that The Tiger had last won first place general excellence in 2008, but we had also won in the 2015 and 2014 contests. The Tiger regrets this error and has since corrected it.
