Emerge takes home eight CSPA awards from NYC

Competing against more than 4,000 entries from across Canada and the United States, Emerge, the magazine made by 4th-year Media Studies students at the University of Guelph-Humber, has won eight awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, including a prestigious Gold Crown Award.

The CSPA awards recognize excellence in print and digital media created by student journalists. This spring, Guelph-Humber sent a group of four Media Studies students to the College Media Association Convention in New York City, and while there, the group got the good news.

“This year's CSPA awards make me particularly proud because the judges have recognized some of the unique aspects of the UofGH Media Studies program,” says Kimberley Noble, the faculty advisor for Emerge. “I am extremely proud of the work that won writing and interviewing awards, but the fact that our students won first-place honours for designing and building both the magazine and conference websites means that we're recognized for the ingenuity that has gone into producing the creative multimedia work that this generation of media graduates requires to excel in this fast-evolving field.”

Along with the CSPA awards, Emerge 2016 also received a prestigious David L. Adams Apple Award from the College Media Association, taking the third-place prize for best homepage. The current wins for Emerge are the latest in a long string of international awards that have included an Associated Collegiate Press Pinnacle Award, a CMA National Pacemaker Award, other Fall National Media Convention Awards, and more.

“This never gets old for me,” says Jerry Chomyn, program head of Media Studies. “We have outstanding students that do outstanding work in all aspects of media, whether that be traditional or digital platforms.”

Daniela Napoli, 4th-year Media Studies student and Emerge’s Editor in Chief, says the wins are a validation of the hard work the team puts into the magazine, and that attending the convention in New York was a chance to see the work other schools create.

“This was a really cool opportunity to see what the playing field is like in student media. For people getting ready to go into the industry, it’s helpful to meet and get to know peers from across the country and the US,” she says.

Amid sessions that focused on building a social media presence and how to generate online buzz, Daniela felt reassured about Emerge, whose 2016 edition will be published soon.

“This year’s magazine is on the right path,” she says. “A lot of the sessions I saw were suggesting putting more focus on online content as opposed to the print magazine. Everything needs to be web-first and digital-first and that’s what we’re doing. That’s what I’m learning here at UofGH.”

Emerge received the CSPA Gold Crown Award for Best Hybrid Magazine, recognizing both Emerge Magazine and emergemagazine.ca.

The CSPA Awards for Emerge 2015 included individual Gold Circle digital awards:

First Place, General or humor commentary
Rebecca Alberico and Joshua Del Rosario, “Femvertising”
First Place, Non-fiction interview
John Samuels, “Crews Eskape Reality”
First Place, Informational Graphics
Joshua Del Rosario and Erfan Al-Keilani
First Place, Typography: overall look of the entire website
Ian McDougald, Christina Gomga and William Burden, “Emerge 2015 Home, Femvertising and Hockey”
First Place, Video Documentary
Jesse Espana, Mark Onufer and Mat Torresano, “Toronto’s Night Life: Last Call Parts 1 & 2”
First Place, Digital Media Advertisement
Staff, “Emerge Conference 2015”
Third Place, Entertainment reviews
Kevin Nwankwo and Erfan Al-Keilani, “Capturing the Cinema Experience on 4K TV”

Learn more about Media Studies at UofGH.