March 4, 2015
The Royal Purple took home 10 awards at the Wisconsin Newspaper Association’s 2014 Better Newspaper Contest on Feb. 27.
The UW-Whitewater weekly independent newspaper collected two first-place awards, three second-place awards, two third-place awards and three honorable mentions during WNA’s 161st convention on Friday afternoon at the Milwaukee Marriott West in Waukesha.
UW Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank gave the keynote at the address and presented the awards to the student winners.
“It was an incredible step forward for the Royal Purple,” said Michael Riley, Editor in Chief. “I am so proud of our staff. We always come close to winning first place in general excellence and to finally win is testament to how hard we work.”
Among the highlights were the RP’s awards for first place in the general excellence category and a sweep of the photography division.
The general excellence category recognizes the best weekly newspaper at the collegiate level in the state, and it is the first time the RP has received first place in more than seven years.
“Being recognized as one of the top college newspapers in Wisconsin is incredibly encouraging for our staff,” Riley added.
Five staff members also earned individual awards at WNA: Editor in Chief Michael Riley, Photography Editor Kimberly Wethal and Lifestyle Editor Vesna Brajkovic.
RP alumni Lucas Wimmer and Amanda Ong also won awards. Wimmer was the former Opinion Editor and Ong was the former Photograpy Editor.
Wethal, a freshman, took home the lone first place individual award in the photography category for her photos of the UW Whitewater football team.
Brajkovic collected an honorable mention for her article, “Students support Venezuela.”
Riley, a senior, took second in feature writing for his article, “A long road to graduation” and third in general reporting for his article, “13 years: From Cambodian labor camps to working in the White House.” He also collected a third place photography award and an honorable mention again in the feature writing category.
