University of Richmond student newspaper wins award for Web site redesign

May 13, 2009

The University of Richmond's student newspaper, The Collegian, has won first place for best overall college newspaper Web site in the 21st annual Student Society of News Design contest.

Judges noted that the best aspects of the winning sites were the balance achieved between photos, graphics, text and an overall clean look. The winning sites utilized traditional Web site organization and formatting while making it seem new as well.

The Collegian is the editorially independent weekly newspaper published by the students at the university since 1914. The online team of the 2008–09 staff launched its Web site during summer 2008 to keep up with the shifting news industry, quickly publish breaking news stories and give readers the ability to comment on stories.

The Collegian online offers daily breaking news, sports and features updates. Averaging 1,500 unique visitors per day and 18,000 unique visitors per month, the site also includes multimedia, polls, blogs and weather reports.

In March, The Collegian print edition won five awards in the Society of Professional Journalists' annual Mark of Excellence college journalism competition. Among colleges and universities in Region 2 (Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia and North Carolina), The Collegian won second place honors in the following categories: best all-around, non-daily student newspaper; in-depth reporting; online sports reporting; online opinion and commentary; and sports column writing.