Topic: College of Communication Information and Media

September 25, 2007

Ball State's Ball Bearings, a student-managed online multimedia production, won first place in the online magazine category of the 2007 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Student Magazine Contest.

Ball Bearings was honored in early August at the AEJMC convention in Washington.

"The Ball Bearings staff, which is all volunteer, works very hard to produce quality online journalism that emphasizes multimedia storytelling," said Mary Spillman, Ball Bearings adviser. "Producing interactive content is not an easy job, but the students consistently meet the challenge."

To qualify for the contest, Ball Bearings had to be an independent online magazine developed solely by students. The Web site was judged on overall design, navigation and content.

"Ball Bearings is known as a new publication on campus that a lot of people haven't heard of," said Jacque Wilson, editor in chief of Ball Bearings. "And to win an award on a national level is amazing. We've finally been recognized for all the hard work put forth."

AEJMC is a nonprofit, educational association of faculty, students, administration and media professionals specializing in journalism and mass communication. It was founded in 1912 in Chicago and has a membership of more than 3,500 worldwide.

Past awards received by Ball Bearings include:

  • 2007 Webby Honoree, student category
  • 2007 Society of Professional Journalists, best online feature
  • 2005 Indiana Collegiate Press Association, best use of multimedia and best nonbreaking news reporting
  • 2004 Society of Professional Journalists, online feature, "Eye of the Storm," national finalist
  • 2004 American Education Journalism Magazine Conference, online magazine, second place
  • 2004 Society of Professional Journalists, best independent online student publication.

For more details about Ball Bearings, visit www.ballbearingsonline.com. For more information, contact Spillman at 765-285-1072 or maryspillman@bsu.edu or Wilson at jdwilson2@bsu.edu.

By Jennifer Regnier