Dallas College students attend the Fall National College Media Convention, where the Associated Collegiate Press ceremony is held.
Student journalists from the News-Register, the North Lake Campus newspaper, competed against many community colleges across the nation and won ninth place for their newspaper under the Best of Show category and tenth place for website design.
NLC student Heather Sherrill won honorable mention for Story of the Year for a column at the ACP. She competed against the best journalism colleges and universities in the whole United States.
Sherrill alongside students Vidhi Bhakta, Theressa Velazquez, Ti-Ying Li and Ranzan Sigdel had the opportunity to travel to Atlanta, Georgia to attend this convention from Oct. 29 – Nov. 2.
“I believe the keynote speakers at ACP spoke more to me than anything else,” Sherrill said.
Each year, different keynote speakers share their experiences regarding different topics in the field of journalism. This year’s keynote speakers spoke about black American history, racism and the culture of hip-hop.
Sherrill said it was inspiring to hear keynote speakers Ernie Suggs, Monica Pearson, Alexis Scott, Charles Blow and George Chidi talk about their personal experiences regarding how Atlanta has failed, grown, or become a staple in this country.
During Chidi’s presentation, an independent journalist who writes about Atlanta’s crime, Sherrill learned that covering crime shouldn’t focus on statistics but rather on understanding its impact on small communities.
Velazquez said the most memorable moment for her was when Suggs, a race and culture journalist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, gave the students a walking tour of downtown Atlanta.
She visited small businesses with historical meanings. Including WERD radio, the first black radio station in America, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s childhood home.
Some students, including Bhakta and Sigdel, decided to participate in an optional photography competition.
The competition rules were to photograph a person who lives, works or is visiting Atlanta, and to show the person’s excitement or unique personality.
Bhakta’s photo was ranked fourth among 15 – 20 participants. She used her iPhone, while others who ranked below her had greater quality cameras.
“The biggest takeaway this year was learning about music journalism, how to become a freelance writer, and how to improve my skills as the editor-in-chief at the News-Register,” Velazquez said.
This was her second year attending the convention. In 2022, she attended workshops that taught her about television news, documentaries and news writing.
Each day starts with multiple workshops taught by some of the best people in the industry and learn more about internships available for students and the qualifications they were looking for. They can choose which workshops to go according to their preference.
“I learned about the Clery Act and how it is a consumer protection law that aims to provide transparency around campus crime policy and statistics,” Sherrill said.
Lindsie Rank speaker from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) voice Sexual Assault Legally workshop spoke about the Clery Act.
The act requires colleges and universities to report campus crime data, support victims of violence and publicly outline the policies and procedures they have put into place to improve campus safety.
Sigdel said The Four Elements of Great Photography workshop helped him learn more about basic elements of photography and photojournalism. This workshop was led by Dylan Wilson, the photography professor at Augusta University.
“The most fun part was to meet with a lot of people and talk about their experiences in journalism, and it gave me a chance to get close with my colleagues,” Sigdel said.
Li also got to learn new things at the convention. In his spare time, he and his colleagues got to explore the southern culture and cuisines in Atlanta as well as visit the Georgia aquarium.
