A place to do Important Work: The Gonzaga Bulletin named Best All-Around

In between homework, maintaining a social life and all the other little things that make up a college experience, the staff of the Gonzaga Bulletin somehow still finds time to produce a high-quality newspaper every other week and regularly publish new stories online.

Oh, and they recently earned the Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best All-Around Student Newspaper by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). The Bulletin staff won the small division for universities with fewer than 10,000 students, in good company with the large division winner, Harvard University.

"It’s really a testament to our students not being afraid to pursue big stories,” says Morgan Scheerer, assistant director of student media. “When you look at what we cover, there's a really good mix of hard-hitting news − big stories I think some students would be afraid to tackle or to talk to the administration about. But our students aren’t. They’re brave, and they’re willing to put in the work."

Covering everything from the best local coffee shops and basketball game highlights to campus protests and the impacts of nationwide issues on students, Scheerer says every decision on what to cover, and how to cover it, is intentional. This includes how it all comes together on newsprint, too.

This is something the SPJ judges agreed on – noting the variety and creativity of the pieces they saw and adding “there’s above average attention to student life, but also good context for lives lived beyond campus.”

Scheerer started at the Bulletin as a staff writer, worked her way up to editor-in-chief by her senior year, and continued working with Student Media after graduating, eventually replacing longtime assistant director Joanne Shiosaki. So, she knows firsthand the love, effort and community that makes the Bulletin the “best all-around.”

“It goes back so far, the years and years of people working hard for this paper,” she says. “And really what it comes down to is everyone just cares a lot.” She describes meeting students while tabling in the John J. Hemmingson Center to promote their summer edition and how surprised people were to find out the staff voluntarily works over the summer.

“They ask me how I get them to do it,” she laughs. “And I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s really easy. They love it. They want to do it.’”

As a new academic year kicks off, the Bulletin will continue the good work they’ve always done while adapting to keep up with the changing news landscape. Scheerer says the staff is always working to expand their digital and social media strategies, ensuring they reach as many people as possible. In the last few years, staff members have used Instagram to interview fellow students and get their takes on random questions like, “What’s your favorite GU memory?” or to share current events in a video format.

"This is a place to do important work,” she says, “and I’m really proud of the students for seeing each story through, knowing its worth and importance and being willing to put in the work long term, no matter what that looks like.”