Several Foghorn staff members attend MediaFest 2025 in Washington D.C. Oct. 14-17, learning more about student media and new trends in news coverage and technology, bringing home a lot of information, and a lot of awards. MediaFest is hosted by the College Media Association, the Associated Collegiate Press, and Society of Professional Journalists.

The Foghorn snagged 26 CMA Pinnacle awards, including first place awards in breaking news photo, video newscast, feature video package and comics, and a first place Best in Show advertisement. Both current and former Foghorn staff snagged wins. Former Online Editor Haylie Godoy won first place for breaking news photo, second place for general news story, and honorable mentions for general news photo and news photo package. 

Former Editor-in-Chief and current Managing Editor Lola Ponce Gamboa and Godoy earned honorable mention for news multimedia package in the Pinnacles. Gamboa earned a third place Pinnacle for feature photo package. Cartoonist Val Cantu also won first place for comics. 

Also in the ACP Individual Awards, former managing editor and current Features Editor Paul Farias won an honorable mention for multimedia feature story and current Sports Editor Chandler Carroll won an honorable mention for broadcast commentary.

“I love when a scrawny two-year college can go up against a four-year college and hold their own,” said Rachel Jennische, professor of Radio and TV production.

The Foghorn News students who attended were pleased to bring back a ton of information to make the student publication even better. The conference was a great opportunity to be able to see not just two-year colleges, but four-year colleges come together to compete, learn, and grow together. 

“I found it interesting that even though there were students and colleges from all around the nation, that we were still alike from the way we dressed or spoke or subjects we were involved in. No matter who you came across you could spark up a conversation,” said Design Editor Mia Ortiz. “It was a cool way to connect and find people who were different from your variety.” 

The conference is a showcase of how much hard work goes into a student publication behind the scenes. 

“We’re in a situation where there’s a lot of college journalism programs coming under restrictions from their own administrations, and it’s nice to see all these news programs come together in one place and show not just support but also solidarity,” said Professor of Journalism and Foghorn Advisor Robert Muilenburg. “It also gives each other tools that are highly needed right now when it comes to putting out high-quality journalism and you’ll find locally, some of the best journalism being produced is through colleges. With the restrictions on some local journalism and the economics of journalism as it is, it’s good for the students and good for us to see such active vibrant programs and showing our students we can compete with anybody in the country when we put out our best work.”