The Chronicle adds to its accolades

The Chronicle, the student-run online newspaper at College of Lake County (CLC), received 10 awards this April at the Illinois Community College Journalism Association’s spring conference. In the last 15 years, The Chronicle has won 185 awards, including 44 first places, in the statewide contest.

The annual contest put The Chronicle in competition with Division I student publications produced at the state’s biggest community colleges. Professional journalists judged the entries, which were published in 2022.

Editor Castor Basa won several awards for opinion writing, including first place as Editorial Writer of the Year and another first for news columns. Basa also won second place as well as an honorable mention in staff editorials. Basa is the fourth Chronicle writer to win Editorial Writer of the Year.

The judge commented on the well-chosen topics as well as the editor’s courage disclosing their transgender identity.

“I feel honored, proud and very surprised that I was named editorial writer of the year,” Basa said. “I never expected such a title when we entered in the contest. I’m still in some shock that out of everything submitted, the judges liked my writing the most.”

Basa also won awards for artwork, with a third place in editorial cartoons for “Oasis Upon Us” and an honorable mention in graphics for “The Importance of Nyota Uhura.”

Chase White also took home an award for opinion writing, winning second place in sports columns for “COVID-19’s impact on college sports.”

Hailey Decker won second place in features for “Eric Dorsa on how drag has revolutionized their recovery.” Decker was credited for the article’s fresh focus.

Current managing editor Brenna Burr won second place in headline writing for “Softball Star Keeps Swinging,” the headline for her profile of injured CLC athlete Natalie Lother.

For the second consecutive year, The Chronicle won second place in general excellence for its website. The Mike Foster General Excellence award is a staff recognition for “overall quality of the publication’s media operation,” and the judge cited the publication’s layout and headlines in making the award.

Chronicle staff members won two additional second-place awards for second feature writing and headlines.

Read The Chronicle online at www.thechronicleclc.com