Katelyn Wilburn, Campus Carrier opinions editor

Berry’s student media publications won many awards at MediaFest 2025 in Washington, DC, which took place Oct. 15-18. During this time, Kevin Kleine, senior lecturer of communication and student publications advisor, as well as students from these publications had the opportunity to attend sessions presented by communications professionals and other publications staff nationwide. 

The group represented Berry at the Pinnacle Awards, where Ramifications, Viking Fusion and Campus Carrier all placed within top three for many awards. Along with this, the students involved received educational experiences from conference events, DC’s memorials and meeting a former Campus Carrier editor. 

Campus Carrier received an honorable mention for Weekly Newspaper of the Year. 

Nico Klementzos won first for Best Sports Photo. Eric Zuniga and Anna Gorman placed second for Best General News Story. Sydney Martinez was awarded second place for Best Editorial. 

Anna Gorman placed third for Best Investigative Story. Eric Zuniga was awarded third for Best Breaking News Story. Charlie Pakluck placed third for Best Feature Photo Package. 

Lexie Shadix received an honorable mention for Best Arts & Entertainment Story.

These awards were given nationwide, and Berry’s students placed high in Division III.

“I’m really proud of all the work the staff of last year did,” senior Abbie King, editor-in-chief of Ramifications, said. “In general, coming back from the convention, we got a lot of ideas on how to make it even better for next year.” 

King decided to go to the conference to represent Ramifications and receive their awards and also had time to speak to Cassie LaJeunesse, former editor-in-chief of Campus Carrier, who is working in DC as an editor and publications specialist at Capital Association Management. 

“I followed along the Carrier’s social media coverage and decided to text Kevin,” LaJeunesse said when explaining how she found Berry’s group in DC. 

MediaFest 2025 gave students many different opportunities to refine important skills for their publications and future career opportunities. Carolina Mendoza, managing editor of Valkyrie Magazine learned about how to better lead her publication. 

“I really enjoyed the sessions about ruling with an iron fist,” Mendoza said. “They were talking about how to be both a good leader, but also not distance yourself from the community that is your publication.” 

The conference also provided networking opportunities with students from across the nation. Mackenzie Campbell, content creator for Campus Carrier, explained the importance of meeting students from other publications and how she did so at the conference. 

“I think that the world is bigger than Berry, and we can learn so much from other colleges,” Campbell said. “For my job specifically, I can look at other colleges social media and see what they’re doing and take that 
into account.”