2023 - ECC student journalists named finalists for national awards

Elgin Community College’s student news publication, The Observer, is a finalist for five national awards: Two Pacemaker Awards from the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) and three Pinnacle Awards from the College Media Association (CMA). ACP is the nation’s largest and oldest national membership organization for college student media. CMA serves student media pros, staff, and programs with education, research, and resources.

The Observer staff was named a finalist in the best Email Newsletter (Pinnacle) and Multiplatform Publication (Pacemaker) categories.

Two ECC alums, Dom Di Palermo of St. Charles (former editor-in-chief) and Hannah Soukup of Hampshire (former managing editor), are finalists in three individual categories.

Soukup has been named a national finalist for a Pacemaker award for Reporter of the Year through ACP and a national finalist for a Pinnacle award through CMA for Column Writing. CMA nominated a personal opinion piece that Soukup published in December 2022. Soukup graduated from ECC in the spring of 2023 and currently attends Northern Illinois University.

DiPalermo has been named a finalist for a Pinnacle Award through CMA for Sports Features for his profile on Dennis Biddle, the youngest player in the Negro Baseball League. DiPalermo graduated from ECC in the spring of 2023 and is continuing his education at Western Kentucky University.

The ACP will announce Pacemaker recipients on Monday, October 30, and the CMA will announce their Pinnacle recipients on Tuesday, October 31.

Read the full story by Indie Wilson, managing editor for the Observer at elginobserver.com.