Owl Media Wins Record Number of National Awards

Owl Media, the student multimedia publication of Harford Community College formerly known as Owl Magazine, won a record-breaking eight national awards in the 2022-23 Pinnacle Awards sponsored by the College Media Association.

Student media publications from across the country entered the competition, with the awards announced on October 31 at the 2023 Fall National College Media Convention. Owl Media earned first place in three categories:

Best Short (sub-3 minute) Video/Entertainment (Two-Year) for “A New Noise,” with reporting, videography, and video editing by Samantha Cox, and assistant video editing by Brendan Flanagan (https://bit.ly/46cDqdD).

Best Video Entertainment Program (Two-Year) for “Koneko: NYC’s Cat Café,” with reporting by Summer Grace, voiceover by Chloe Kruml, videography by Stephen McFillin, and video editing by Brendan Flanagan (https://bit.ly/3PrMnZ4).

Best Video Newscast (Two-Year) for “The Trump Indictments: No One Is Above The Law,” with reporting from Sofia McCoy, Logan Riley, Megan Newsome, and Brendan Flanagan, voiceover by Megan Newsome, videography by Sofia McCoy and Brendan Flanagan, and video editing by Brendan Flanagan (https://bit.ly/45Yxzbv).

Owl Media earned second place in two categories:

Best Use of Short (sub-3 minute) Video for News and Information (Two-Year) category for “Healing Through Physical Therapy: An Inside Look,” with reporting by Connor O’Chuida, videography and video editing by Luke Teigue, and assistant video editing by Brendan Flanagan (https://bit.ly/3t1Y5lT).

Best Sports Feature (Two-Year) for “Taking One for the Team: The Mental Health Crisis Among College Athletes,” written by Paige Clark (https://bit.ly/3rm8AQq).

Owl Media earned third place in three categories:

Best Breaking News Coverage (Two-Year) for “The Trump Indictments: No One Is Above The Law,” along with an article written by Brendan Flanagan (https://bit.ly/46iwoDG).

Best Multimedia Feature Story (Two-Year) for “Koneko: NYC’s Cat Café,” along with “Coming to the Rescue,” written by Summer Grace (http://bit.ly/3Lviw0C), and “Rescue Cats Living Their Best Life,” with photography by Summer Grace (https://bit.ly/3RsGKMZ).

TV Station of the Year (Two-Year), a category that judges the quality of three videos submitted, which were:

“The Trump Indictments: No One Is Above The Law”

“Koneko: NYC’s Cat Café”

“WHFC’s Learning Lab,” with reporting and editing by Daniel Admasu, and videography by Luke Teigue and Cayden Hagy (https://bit.ly/3rtgCXD).

The fall 2022 student staff was led by Chief Advisor Claudia Brown, Technical Advisor John Morin, Content Advisor Faras Aamir, and Editor-in-Chief Nick DeMent. The spring 2023 student staff was led by Chief Advisor Claudia Brown, Technical Advisor Brianna Skrivanek, and Content Advisor John Morin. Editor-in-Chief Brendan Flanagan joined in the summer of 2023.

Owl Media released print magazines from 2011-2020, has been publishing videos on YouTube and Facebook since 2014, and launched a website in late 2022. The publication has won 43 national awards since 2012.

Readers can follow the nationally award-winning publication on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, as well as their website, owlmedia.org.

Students interested in joining the staff may email harfowl@harford.edu or reach out via social media.