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Mustang Media Group Earns Numerous Awards at National Contests

Mustang Media Group (MMG), the Journalism Department's student-run news organization, has had a very successful last few months. MMG won numerous awards at both the College Media Business and Advertising Managers Annual Content and the Midwinter National College Media Convention.

The Midwinter National College Media Convention took place March 2-5 in San Francisco. At the convention, MMG took home 22 awards in total from the Associated Collegiate Press and the California College Media Association.

MMG was awarded first-place honors in the following categories: Best Advertising Special Section; Best Overall Newspaper Design; and Best Use of Social Media.

Mustang Media Group
Student award-winners at National College Media
Association Convention award ceremony (top row,
left to right) Zack Spanier, Hannah Avdalovic, Olivia Proffit
and Celina Oseguera; (bottom row, left to right)
Naba Ahmed, Gurpreet Bhoot, and Cara Jean
Benson. Photo by Matthew Lalanne.

 

 

 

First-place awards for individual achievements are as follows: Ayrton Ostly for Best Sports Story; Brendan Matsuyama for Best Infographic; Ellen Fabini for Best Online Advertisement and Best Color Advertisement; Erica Patstone for Best Advertising Campaign; Jordan Triplett for Best Black and White Advertisement; Matt Lalanne for Best Sports Photo; and Maggie Hitchings and Nikki Petkopolous for Best Online Campaign.

Other awards from the Convention for individual achievement were: Patstone, third place in Best Sales Promotion; Cara Benson, Second Place in Best News Video; Peter Gonzales, third place in Best Podcast; Brendan Abrams, third place in Best Headline Portfolio; and Will Peischel, third place in Best Feature Story.

The awards from the College Media Business and Advertising Managers Annual Contest were presented April 1 at the organization's banquet in Fort Worth, Texas.

Mustang Media Group
MMG team members with their awards at the
College Media Business and Advertising Managers
Annual Contest banquet.

 

 

 

MMG was awarded Best Advertising Campaign, Best Special Event (SLO Fest), Best Training Program, College Media Design Program of the Year, and Best Back to School Orientation Edition for the Week of Welcome in 2016.

The contest was structured on a point basis, where each school was awarded a certain number of points if placed in the top four of a category. MMG was second overall in the Sales and Public Relations/Marketing Categories. MMG was also second overall in the annual contest.

Other notable awards from the contest are as follows: Patstone, named Designer of the Year; Darcia Castelanelli, second place for Sales Representative of the Year; and Ross Pfeiffer, fourth place for Public Relations/Marketing Manager of the Year.

"Our organization has been recognized as one of the top advertising and design programs in the nation over the past decade, and these awards confirm that and demonstrate the outstanding work product and individuals in our program," said Paul Bittick, general manager of MMG.

Students from MMG rave about the organization's dedication to its members and the platform it has given them to better prepare them for lives as professional members of the media.

"[MMG] brought me to this point by giving me a platform and channel to create this content," said Ostly, fourth-year journalism major and award-winning sports writer for MMG. "I have the support around me to better my abilities as a storyteller."

"MMG is more than just a job, it's a family," said Benson, third-year journalism major and award-winning social media editor for MMG. "If it wasn't for this family environment, we wouldn't be able to work together as well and succeed to the levels that we do."

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