Harbinger Student Media Places Third in Best of Show at ICCJA Conference

Stephanie McClaskey

Oct 11, 2022

Illinois Central College‘s (ICC) student publication, Harbinger Student Media (HSM), was awarded third place in Best of Show at the Illinois Community College Journalism Association (ICCJA) Conference on Friday, October 7. The ICCJA conference was held in the Eastern Illinois University Communication Department on Thursday, October 6, and Friday, October 7.  HSM submitted its printed magazine from the spring semester of 2022 to be considered for Best of Show for student-led news organizations in community colleges across the state. 

ICCJA is a membership-based organization that offers training and recognition to journalism students participating in community college news platforms across Illinois. The conference consists of several workshop panels for the attendees, all related to various journalism topics, including reporting, graphic design, photography, video storytelling, and much more. The conference also allows attendees to tour the hosting college’s communications department and journalism platforms. 

ICCJA also provides opportunities for recognition, awards, and honorable mentions for the participating community colleges and their staff members. These recognitions are based on various categories for the spring conference and the singular category, Best of Show, for the fall conference. Joe Gisondi, ICCJA Executive Director, has been organizing and leading the conferences for nearly a decade and presented the awards Friday afternoon. 

“This award is in honor of John M. Ryan, the previous executive director of ICCJA. He oversaw the program for more than twenty years,” Gisondi said. 

HSM sought out what contributed to the success and kept the team from receiving the first-place award. Gisondi shared that while the magazine provided a great deal of content, with various topics discussed, HSM lacked quotes, which are key to effective journalism. 

“Talking to people. If you had more quotes, you could have won first place,” Gisondi said. 

The conference is transitioning from a semester to a yearly gathering, hoping to provide a more effective and efficient experience for the attending students and their advisors. These changes will be implemented beginning in the 2023-2024 academic year. HSM will be attending the spring ICCJA conference at the College of DuPage in April 2023 to be judged on the current publications to be considered for more than 30 different categories of awards.