The Kansas Collegiate Media (KCM) Spring Conference took place April 13-14 in Wichita, Kansas, and numerous awards were announced. These included the winners of overall publications, Journalist of the Year, copy editing, and individual photography, design and writing competitions, among others.
The results of these contests are provided below.
Overall Awards
The overall awards recognized the top publications or student media outlets, judged as a whole. There were six different divisions for this contest. The results are as follows:
| Division | Publication Name | School Name | Award/Ranking |
| Yearbooks | Sapphire Yearbook | Washburn University | 2nd Place |
| Royal Purple Yearbook | Kansas State University | All-Kansas | |
| Magazines | Dragon’s Tale Magazine | Hutchinson Community College | 3rd Place |
| Indigo Magazine | Washburn University | 2nd Place | |
| Manhappenin’ | Kansas State University | All-Kansas | |
| 4-Year Online & Digital Media | The Kansas State Collegian | Kansas State University | 3rd Place |
| University Daily Kansan | University of Kansas | 2nd Place | |
| The Sunflower | Wichita State University | All-Kansas | |
| 2-Year Newspapers | The Lantern | Butler Community College | 2nd Place |
| The Hutchinson Collegian | Hutchinson Community College | All-Kansas | |
| 4-Year Private Newspapers | The Spectator | McPherson College | 3rd Place |
| BC Circuit | Benedictine College | 2nd Place | |
| The Vantage | Newman University | All-Kansas | |
| 4-Year Public Newspapers | The Kansas State Collegian | Kansas State University | 2nd Place |
| The Sunflower | Wichita State University | All-Kansas |
Journalist of the Year (JOY)
This award honors student journalists who have made exceptional contributions to their student media staff and collegiate journalism in Kansas during the academic year. Students are judged by the work they have done, and they compete against fellow journalists in their division, which is either a 2-year or a 4-year school. The results are as follows:
| Division | Participant Name | School Name | Award/Ranking |
| 2-Year | Jolie Shultz | Hutchinson Community College | 2nd Place |
| Greta Klein | Hutchinson Community College | 1st Place | |
| 4-Year | Maddie Carr | Emporia State University | 3rd Place |
| Jacob Unruh | Wichita State University | 2nd Place | |
| Allison Campbell | Wichita State University | 1st Place |
Copy Editing Contest
This is an on-site contest in which students can showcase their AP and current events knowledge. The results are as follows:
| Participant Name | School Name | Award/Ranking |
| Julia Hanson | University of Kansas | Honorable Mention |
| Jayme Thompson | Washburn University | Honorable Mention |
| Olivia Pride | Cowley College | Honorable Mention |
| Jacob Unruh | Wichita State University | 3rd Place |
| Allison Campbell | Wichita State University | 2nd Place |
| Mia Hennen | Wichita State University | 1st Place |
Big-J Journalism Award
The Big -J Journalism Award recognizes an individual or group of student journalists for exceptional and courageous work in the face of difficult or challenging circumstances. This award is determined by the KCM President.
The 2025 Big-J Journalism Award recipients were the staff members of The Bulletin from Emporia State University.
Individual Awards
The individual awards recognized the best work by student journalists in areas of design, writing, photography, social media, multimedia, and advertising. For 2025, a combined 778 entries were submitted in the individual contest categories, and 297 of those entries earned awards.
In most cases, the submissions in each contest were organized by division (2-Year Newspaper, Magazine/Yearbook, 4-Year Private Newspaper, and 4-Year Public Newspaper). However, in order to maintain the integrity of the contests, competitions with fewer than 7 entries in a division were combined with another division, referred to as a “Circulation Group.”
After combining, there were 66 contests for 2025. The results are as follows:
Corrections Needed?
If there are errors, such as misspellings or anything else, please complete the following form, and KCM Second Vice President Todd R. Vogts, Ph.D., will be in contact.