The Lamp placed second in the John M. Ryan Best of Show award category at the the Illinois Community College Journalism Association’s fall 2018 conference at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. The best of show award is given to the community college with the single best issue of any newspaper published since January 2018. The contest allows larger and smaller schools to highlight the best example of their work. The Lamp’s co-editors are Niko Robledo (holding award) and Meredith Howard.

Tim McKenzie, professor of journalism and humanities, is pictured with the 14 Lamp staff members who attended the two-day conference on Oct. 4 and 5. They worked with professional journalists to learn about storytelling visually, writing better and covering one’s campus. The editor and general manager of the Mattoon/Charleson Journal-Gazette/Times-Courier, Penny Weaver, gave the keynote address on how to tell the story while remaining  mindful of one’s community and ethics.