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Release Date: 
Sunday, April 26, 2020

The Mirror News wins 25 awards in state-wide competition

Photo of President Kavalhuna (left) and his son during the Turkey Trot
HFC President Russell Kavalhuna and his son, Miles, at the “Turkey Trot” Fundraiser held at the College on Nov. 9, 2019. This photo was taken by Rose Albayat, who won first place for this photo in the Sports Feature Photo category at the 2020 MCCPA journalism conference.

The Mirror News – HFC’s student newspaper – won 25 awards from the 2020 Michigan Community College Press Association (MCCPA) journalism conference, which was held remotely and coordinated by Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant. The Mirror News’ total surpassed the number of last year’s awards, which was 24.

Including this year, The Mirror News staff has won a total of 106 newspaper awards in the last five years, according to HFC English professor/The Mirror News faculty advisor Peter Kim, who is also the president of MCCPA.

“I could not be any prouder of the students and their well-deserved recognition,” said Kim. “It is such an honor and pleasure working with them. Their success is a testament to the wonderful collaboration between many areas of the College.”

The editor-in-chief for The Mirror News during the 2019-20 academic year was Fatima Nkata of Redford. This is her third year as editor-in-chief. Nkata, who has an associate degree in community leadership from HFC, is currently working on her second HFC associate degree in liberal arts.

“I am very proud of what we have achieved two years in a row. It wouldn’t have been possible without an incredible team to work with – the staff, the freelance contributors, the faculty, the advisors, the newspaper board. Credit for our success goes to all of them,” said Nkata.

Added Kim: “The newspaper’s success is in part due to the remarkable leadership of its editor-in-chief, Fatima Nkata, who has created an atmosphere of excellence and professionalism while also being fun and encouraging. All the students involved with the newspaper are amazingly talented, and I am very lucky to have the opportunity to get to know them and to work with them.”

The Mirror News awards, 2020

First Place Awards (4)

Category: Feature Story
Winner: Jessica D’Alfonso

Category: Sports Feature Photo (see above)
Winner: Rose Albayat

Category: Best Blog
Winner: Justin Randles

Category: Audio Production
Winner: Phoenix Vlasin

Second Place Awards (6)

Category: Photo Essay/Digital Slideshow
Winner: Joshua Tufts

Category: Illustration
Name: Johanna Townsend

Category: Best Blog
Winner: Brendon Vincent

Category: Video Production
Winners: Rose Albayat and Hannah Daniel

Category: Personality Profile
Winner: Jessica D’Alfonso

Category: First Amendment Reporting
Winner: Fatima Nkata

Third Place Awards (6)

Category: Infographic
Winner: Kaamilya Aliakbar

Category: Headline Writing
Winner: Justin Randles

Category: Inside Page Design
Winner: Miguel Reyna

Category: Best Blog
Winner: Carrie Welch

Category: Sports Column
Winner: Corey Linsner

Category: Feature Story
Winner: Justin Randles

Honorable Mention (9)

Category: In-Depth Enterprise Story
Winner: Justin Randles

Category: Humor Column
Winner: Justin Randles

Category: Sports Feature
Winner: Jessica Schrader

Category: Sports Column
Winner: Faith Sabo

Category: Original Cartoon
Winner: Parrish Broadnax

Category: Original Comic – Entertainment
Winner: Parrish Broadnax

Category: News Photo
Winner: Olivia Grantham

Category: Sports News Photo
Winner: Faith Sabo

Category: Sports Feature Photo
Winner: Justin Randles

Michigan Community College Press Association

The MCCPA hosts an annual journalism conference in which student journalists from community colleges throughout Michigan are judged in 31 categories. Besides HFC, the following community colleges also participated in this year’s conference:

• Delta College
• Washtenaw Community College
• Schoolcraft College
• Northwestern Michigan College
• Grand Rapids Community College
• Lansing Community College
• Monroe County Community College
• Muskegon Community College

The content of The Mirror News is created, edited, and designed entirely by HFC students. It is distributed monthly from September through June across the HFC campus. The Mirror News has been publishing student-produced content for more than 70 years.

“Given today's circumstances, we are unable to wrap up the year as we normally would,” said Nkata. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the outgoing student staffers for their great contributions to the paper and to wish them the best in their future endeavors. I would also like to thank the College administration for supporting us and ensuring that The Mirror News remains an autonomous voice of the student body at HFC.”