UNC Asheville students win 11 statewide media awards

The Blue Banner, UNC Asheville’s student news outlet, earned seven awards at the annual statewide College Media Association’s conference on February 22 at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. 

The Blue Banner received the following awards for 2024:

• Third place in News Writing: Emily Koscinski, “River Arts District artists celebrate return with RADfest”
• Honorable mention in Cartoons: Samantha Adams, “A tale of two Hendersonvilles”
• Honorable mention in Digital Storytelling: Abigail Cutler, “An introduction to the North Carolina Glass Center”
• Honorable mention in Digital Storytelling: Evannes Edmonson, “An inside look at the UNCA ceramics department”
• Honorable mention in Feature Writing, Emily Moosbrugger, “ReString Appalachia supplies instruments to those who lost them in Hurricane Helene”
• Honorable mention in Sports Writing, Jacob Brown, “UNCA student fights for mixed martial arts promotion”
• A Best of Show in Online News: The Blue Banner

Also recognized with three awards was the UNC Asheville literary and creative arts journal Headwaters:

• Third place in Single/Two-Page Spread: Atticus Mason and Sedona Murdock, “Growing Up”
• Honorable mention in Fiction: Riley Johnson, “Appetite”
• Honorable mention in Nonfiction: Gabrille Paluzzi, “Jerry”

And, at the 2025 Boone Docs Film Festival, “A Nest of Singing Birds” won Best Student Film. The film focuses on Aarionna Clackler’s family and their tradition as Appalachian ballad singers. Clacker also worked on the film as director along with Ryan Cromer, camera and editing; Jonah Levy, sound and production assistant; and Robert Sutcliffe, sound and graphics.

For more information, contact the Banner’s faculty advisor Micheal Gouge, a senior lecturer of mass communication, 828-232-2423 or mgouge@unca.edu or Anne Slatton, faculty advisor for “A Nest of Singing Birds,” at aslatton@unca.edu.

About the N.C. College Media Association

The N.C. College Media Association, sponsored by the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill, offers a one-day conference on a different campus each year to hold educational workshops and recognize outstanding work from the state’s student newspapers, yearbooks, and online news organizations.

About the Boone Docs Festival

The Boone Docs film festival, held by Appalachian Theatre with support from many Appalachian State University departments and local businesses, presents a series of short form documentary films that share and celebrate life in Appalachia.