{"id":1005,"date":"2017-03-20T10:39:06","date_gmt":"2017-03-20T15:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rctc.edu\/echo\/?p=1005"},"modified":"2026-01-08T14:21:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T20:21:24","slug":"echo-wins-7-awards-in-college-journalism-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/echo-wins-7-awards-in-college-journalism-contest\/","title":{"rendered":"Echo wins 7 awards in college journalism contest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Echo staff report<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The

The Echo placed third in the General Excellence category in the collegiate division of the 2017 Minnesota Newspaper Association\u2019s Better Newspaper Contest. The University of St. Thomas and Bethel University placed first and second, respectively.<\/p><\/div>\n

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. \u2013 The Rochester Community and Technical College Echo swept the column-writing category on its way to winning seven awards Thursday in the collegiate division of the 2017 Minnesota Newspaper Association\u2019s Better Newspaper Contest.<\/p>\n

\"Zechariah

Zechariah Sindt<\/p><\/div>\n

Former Editor-in-Chief Zechariah Sindt placed first with column \u201cCommunication gap caused hard feelings\u201d in which he examined RCTC\u2019s spending on its centennial celebration. \u201cZechariah Sindt has a strong finger on the pulse of the campus community and pressing issues, and writes with strong accuracy and thoughtfulness,\u201d according to contest judges.<\/p>\n

\"Jonathan

Jonathan Knecht<\/p><\/div>\n

Jonathan Knecht, now a student at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, won second place for a column headlined \u201cSolution to gun violence lies within us.\u201d Judges said Knecht offered \u201can insightful take on an impossibly complex social issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jennifer

Jennifer Rogers<\/p><\/div>\n

Managing Editor Jennifer Rogers placed third with a column headlined \u201cCentennial expenditures are worth it.\u201d Judges said Rogers wrote \u201ca great counterpoint to a pressing campus issue, a stance that was undoubtedly not the most popular among students, making it all the more courageous to take.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sindt, now a student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, placed second in investigative reporting for a series of stories on RCTC\u2019s centennial spending, with judges calling it \u201ca deep dive into the biggest news story of the year on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sindt also placed second in editorial writing. Commenting on his editorial \u201cBe free to be offensive \u2013 in context,\u201d judges noted that\u201dsensitivities and political correctness puts discourse at risk in schools when trying to teach delicate subjects diplomatically.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rachel

Rachel Halverson<\/p><\/div>\n

Rachel Halverson, who served as photo editor before succeeding Sindt as editor-in-chief, won third place in the Photo Story category for a full-page layout about an RCTC Art Club field trip, which judges said comprised \u201ca nice variety to tell a story.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Echo placed third in the General Excellence category, a noteworthy achievement because it competes against student newspapers from four-year universities. This was the first time a community college newspaper placed in the General Excellence category in the MNA contest since 2011. That year, The Echo placed first.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been telling my students that this is our Hoosiers\u2019 moment,\u201d said Echo faculty adviser Dwight Boyum. \u201cIn the movie, a small-town basketball team competes against bigger schools in the state tournament. The fact that The Echo placed in General Excellence when we\u2019re up against four-year schools with more resources, is a testament to what a great staff we had last year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Echo staff report BLOOMINGTON, Minn. \u2013 The Rochester Community and Technical College Echo swept the column-writing category on its way to winning seven awards Thursday in the collegiate division of the 2017 Minnesota Newspaper Association\u2019s Better Newspaper Contest. Former Editor-in-Chief Zechariah Sindt placed first with column \u201cCommunication gap caused hard feelings\u201d in which he examined […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1005\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}