CM Life advertising, editorial staff receive state, national recognition

Central Michigan Life journalism and advertising students have gained attention this year with regional and national awards.

CM Life’s advertising department finished second in the nation for College Newspaper Business & Advertising Managers, Inc. “College Newspaper of the Year” award.

Redford sophomore Julie Bushart played a large role in the prestigious placement. Bushart was named Student Sales Representative of the Year after working in CM Life’s advertising department for two years.

“I am proud to have won Sales Representative of the Year and am glad I am playing such a positive role in helping make Central Michigan Life the number two college newspaper in the nation,” Bushart said.

Bushart said she invests time in CM Life because she knows the experience will help her not only now, but in the future.

“I take my job at CM Life very seriously, because I know how good of an opportunity this is for success in my future endeavors,” Bushart said. “This is a very gratifying award and I am very humbled to receive it.”

In addition to the advertising department, CM Life also won 12 awards at the regional conference for the Society of Professional Journalists.

Hartland junior Theresa Clift placed second in SPJ’s Breaking News Reporting category, alongside Bay City junior Annie Harrison, Allen Park sophomore Ben Harris and Grandville senior Mike Nichols.

The four were honored for their reporting on CMU’s faculty strike.

“That day we had the coverage of when the strike was announced, we broke the news before local reporters,” Clift said. “We were competing with the Free Press and most of the time we beat the Free Press, too.”

Clift said CM Life was fortunate to have the chance to cover an event like the faculty strike.

“We were lucky to have the opportunity to cover something that was such big news. It’s pretty much a goldmine for journalism,” she said. “It’s nice to be recognized. We worked really hard.”

CM Life’s photojournalists also were honored at the SPJ awards.

Saline senior Andrew Kuhn was awarded first place in the General News Photography category for his photo of Occupy Wall Street.

“It was a shot that I took when I was in New York covering Occupy Wall Street,” Kuhn said. “The photo was taken at Union Square. I got up behind one of the people who was shouting to the crowd and getting people fired up.”

The first-time winner said he was surprised when he found out he won the award and is eager to see how he places when his photo goes to nationals.

“I’m excited,” he said. “We’ll see what happens. I know there are other strong publications around the nation. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and see what happens.”

Kuhn said he wanted to congratulate his fellow photojournalists, who form a tight-knit group at CM Life.

“Congratulations to Jake May and Jeff Smith,” Kuhn said. “I’m happy for my fellow photographers. We all push each other and make each other better.”

Society of Professional Journalists Awards, Region 4:

First place:
- Breaking News Photography: Collision by Jeff Smith
- General News Photography: Occupy by Andrew Kuhn
- Photo Illustration: Is there room for student government? By Sara Winkler and Chelsea Kleven
- General Column Writing: Andrew Dooley
- Online News Reporting: Remembering 9/11 by Jackie Smith, Adam Kaminski and Tyler Besh
- Best Independent Online Student Publication: Grand Central Magazine

Second place:
- Feature Photography: The kiss by Jake May
- Breaking News Reporting: Faculty strike by Theresa Clift, Annie Harrison, Ben Harris and Mike Nichols

Third place:
- Breaking News Photography: Total Loss by Jake May
- General Column Writing: Eric Dresden, Connor Sheridan and Jake May
- Online Sports Reporting: Breanna Lesnar by Kyle Terwilliger and Bethany Walker
- Photo Illustration: Pardon my porn by Paige Calamari and Chelsea Kleven