Cal Poly wins journalism awards for Mustang News work

Cal Poly’s student news organization, Mustang News, earned 16 national awards from the Associated Collegiate Press and the College Media Association.

The news outlet received four first-place Pinnacle Awards at the Associated Collegiate Press and the College Media Association joint ACP/CMA National College Media Convention held late last year in Austin, Texas.

Olivia DeGennaro, now a reporter and producer for KRNV in Reno, Nev., won a first-place CMA Pinnacle Award for best investigative story. The story, “Where is Kristin Smart?,” examined the cold case of a Cal Poly student still missing after 19 years.

Cal Poly student Joe Hewison won a first-place CMA Pinnacle Award for best rate card/media kit.

Mustang News staff members received CMA Pinnacle Awards for best viral video, which featured professors reading aloud the mean student ratings they received, and best online ad, for The Neighborhood, a local acai and juice bar, in addition to other honors.

This story was originally published February 1, 2016 at 3:05 PM with the headline "Cal Poly wins journalism awards for Mustang News work."