Efforts by creative services team and student-run organizations recognized with 17 awards

Garnet Media Group, also known as the Office of Student Media at the University of South Carolina, recently earned national honors in four awards contests at the Associated Collegiate Press and College Media Association’s Fall National College Media Convention in Washington, D.C., and the College Broadcasters, Inc.’s National Student Electronic Media Convention in St. Louis, Missouri.

In the Associate Collegiate Press’ Pacemaker Awards, widely recognized as one of the most prestigious awards for student media in the country, Garnet Media Group was honored primarily for work by student designers on the creative services team, which is responsible for designing advertisements and other projects for university- and community-based clients, as well as work by Garnet & Black magazine.

Garnet Media Group won the following Pacemaker Awards for work done during the 2018-19 academic year:

• First place, advertising brochure or rate card: Former creative services designer and USC alumna Grace Steptoe earned one of the highest honors in collegiate media for her work on Garnet Media Group’s 2018-2019 advertising guide.
• Second place, display advertisement: Former creative services designer Calista Berner was recognized for her work on a display advertisement for a Garnet Media Group client.
• Honorable mention, best illustration: Gracie Newton, former art director for Garnet & Black magazine and USC alumna, was recognized for her work on an illustration featured in G&B’s spring 2019 issue.
• Honorable mention, advertising campaign: Creative Services designers Emily Schoonover, Grace Steptoe and Calista Berner were recognized for their work on an ad campaign for on-campus advertising client Gamecock Entertainment’s Carolina After Dark event series.

In the College Media Association’s Pinnacle Awards, Garnet Media Group was recognized for work by partner organizations Garnet & Black, SGTV and The Daily Gamecock, as well as work by student designers on the Creative Services team.

Garnet Media Group won the following Pinnacle Awards for work done during the 2018-2019 academic year:

• First place, best special section cover: Former designer and USC alumnus Jayson Jeffers was recognized for his design of the cover for the 2018 Football Preview edition of The Daily Gamecock.
• First place, best multimedia advertising campaign: Emily Schoonover, alumna Grace Steptoe and former student Calista Berner, designers on Garnet Media Group’s creative services team, were recognized for their work on a multimedia ad campaign for on-campus advertising client Gamecock Entertainment’s Thursday After Dark event series.
• First place, best online advertisement: Emily Schoonover, a creative services designer, earned first-place honors for her work on an animated website ad for a Garnet Media Group client.
• Second place, four-year TV Station of the Year: SGTV was awarded an organizational Pinnacle, one of the highest honors in the contest, for its work over the 2018-19 year.
• Second place, best general news story: Sarah Nichols, alumna and former staff writer for Garnet & Black magazine, earned national honors for her work on “The Reverend and the Redneck,” a news story from G&B’s spring 2019 issue that covered efforts by a USC student and a pastor to renovate a former Confederate memorabilia shop in Laurens, S.C. with a legacy of racism into an inclusive community center.
• Third place, best special section (four pages or less): A multi-disciplinary team of staff members from The Daily Gamecock — Editor-in-Chief Genna Contino, Managing Editor Taylor Washington, Design Director Taylor Sharkey, Assistant Design Director Alex Finger, former editor-in-chief Victoria Richman, and former photo editor Zachary McKinley — was recognized for work on a special report on USC students’ use of JUUL vaping devices.
• Third place, best newspaper news page: Creative Director Erin Slowey and Design Director Taylor Sharkey were recognized for the April 1, 2019 front page of The Daily Gamecock, which reported the murder of USC student Sami Josephson.
• Third place, best display advertisement: Former creative services designer Calista Berner was awarded third place for her work on a display advertisement for a Garnet Media Group client.
• Honorable mention, best social media presence: The staff of The Daily Gamecock was recognized for its use of social media as an organization.
• Honorable mention, best social media main page: The staff of The Daily Gamecock and former creative services designer Grace Steptoe was recognized for the design of the news organization’s Facebook page.
• Honorable mention, best advertising campaign: Creative Services designers Emily Schoonover, Grace Steptoe and Calista Berner were recognized for their work on an ad campaign for on-campus advertising client Gamecock Entertainment’s Carolina After Dark event series.

In College Broadcasters, Inc.’s 2019 National Student Production Awards, Garnet Media Group partner organization SGTV earned third place in the best comedy category for “Funny Money,” a short film produced by the station’s film production group, 1080C Productions. SGTV staff members Zack Spencer, Rachel Smith, Olivia Ondus, Michael Floam, Matthew Crosby, Devin Vest, Ezri Fender, Ben Aprahamian and Chris Terry helped create the award-winning comedy.

Finally, in the College Media Association’s third-annual Film and Audio Festival, SGTV staff members Ward Jolles and Spencer Buckler were honored with a second-place award for their video news package covering former 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke’s March visit to USC’s campus.