On Thursday, Feb. 5, Wartburg journalism and communication students and Dr. Ashley Jones attended the annual Iowa Collegiate Media Association (ICMA) conference in Des Moines, Iowa. Following the conference, the ICMAs held an award show, awarding news programs from across the state in various categories for work published from October 2024 to October 2025.
Wartburg students involved in The Wartburg Trumpet, Knight Vision News and KWAR won a total of 41 awards for achievements in print, video and audio categories.
The Wartburg Trumpet, Wartburg College’s online news publication, was honored at the ICMA award ceremony for the first time since 2023, bringing home six awards. The editorial staff, consisting of Ali Parkhurst, Chloe Rehmert and Addy Wells, were awarded a first-place prize for Best Staff Editorials. The Wartburg Trumpet was also recognized in third place for Best Media Website.
Other awards by The Wartburg Trumpet and the Trumpet staff include “Review: Beauty in Black: A Twisted Tale that Never Seems to End” by Cyrah Isa-Mogoba, placing second for Best Review, “Censorship is so 1984: Banned Books Week at Wartburg” by Lyla Pier-Atkinson, placing third for Best Headline Writing, “Travis Bockenstedt PRSSA Promotional Graphic” by Rishita Gathika, placing third for Best Graphic of Illustration and “Battle of the Burgs: A Legacy” by Caleb Kammerer, receiving an honorable mention in Best Print/Online Sports Reporting.
Notably, KWAR was awarded the Overall Audio Excellence award, tying with Buena Vista University. This is the third consecutive year KWAR has received this honor. Alongside the Overall Audio Excellence award, KWAR brought home 18 additional honors, including two first-place awards. KWAR and Knight Vision staff received first place for Best Newscast and third year Makenna Kammerer received first place for Best Air or Podcast Personality.
Knight Vision News returned to campus with five awards, two of which received a first-place finish. Landon Jepson earned first place in Best Video Sportscasting for “Men’s Wrestling: Loras v. Wartburg” and Knight Vision staff earned first place in Best News Programming for the Winter Sports Special.
Jepson, a third-year journalism and communication student, was named the Pat Pisarik Student Journalist of the Year, a prestigious award given to an outstanding student journalist serving their collegiate media organizations over the previous calendar year. The award is named in honor of the late Pat Pisarek, a Loras College journalism professor who espoused the ideals of unbiased, public-focused journalism.
Below you can find a complete list of each award won by each student or group.
The Wartburg Trumpet
Lyla Pier-Atkinson, Third Place, Best Headline Writing: “Censorship is so 1984: Banned Books Week at Wartburg”
Cyrah Isa-Mogoba, Second Place, Best Review: “Review: Beauty in Black: A Twisted Tale that Never Seems to End”
Ali Parkhurst, Chloe Rehmert, Addison Wells, First Place, Best Staff Editorials: “Letters from the Editors”
Ali Parkhurst, Chloe Rehmert, Addison Wells, Third Place, Best Media Website: “TheWartburgTrumpet.com”
Rishita Gathala, Third Place, Best Graphic or Illustration: “Travis Bockenstedt PRSSA Promotional Graphic”
Caleb Kammerer, Honorable Mention, Best Print/Online Sports Reporting: “Battle of the Burgs: A Legacy”
Knight Vision News
Knight Vision Staff, Third Place, Best Newscast: “April 11, 2025 Newscast”
Landon Jepson, First Place, Best Video Sportscasting: “Men’s Wrestling: Loras v. Wartburg”
Jax Caddell, Zach Hiney, Honorable Mention, Best Video Sportscasting: “Loras v. Wartburg Men’s Basketball Winter 2025”
Knight Vision Staff, First Place, Best News Programming: “Winter Sports Special Wrap Up”
Knight Vision Staff, Second Place, Best News Programming: “Election Special 2024”
KWAR
Addison Wells, Third Place, Best Air or Podcast Personality: “Inside Scoop”
Christopher Guerrero, Second Place, Best Air or Podcast Personality: “Throwbacks Hit Harder”
Makenna Kammerer, First Place, Best Air or Podcast Personality: “Finding Whimsy”
Jace Holz, Third Place, Best Audio Promo or PSA: “Knock Out Melts”
Landon Jepson, Makenna Kammerer, Second Place, Best Audio Promo or PSA: “Marathon PSA”
Christopher Guerrero, Honorable Mention, Best Sports Broadcast: “Janesville v. Riceville”
Caleb Kammerer, Hayden McCormac, Makenna Kammerer, Second Place, Best Show (Entertainment): “For the Republic”
Alyson Hasner, Third Place, Best Show (Entertainment): “Movie Mania Needs Cleaning”
Ali Parkhurst, Lauren Simpson, Honorable Mention, Best Show (Entertainment): “Getting by with Lauren and Ali”
Caleb Kammerer, Kayden Johnson, Honorable Mention, Best Sports Program: “0-1 [OH and one]”
Jax Caddell, Third Place, Best Sports Program: “Beyond the ARC”
Landon Jepson, Second Place, Best Sports Program: “LJ Slam & Jam”
KWAR/Knight Vision Staff, First Place, Best Newscast: “KV Sports”
Makenna Kammerer, Second Place, Best Newscast: “Christmas with Wartburg”
Landon Jepson, Honorable Mention, Creative Audio: “Haunted Campus”
Cyrah Isa-Mogoba, Honorable Mention, Audio Feature Package: “DEI”
Jace Holz, Third Place, Long-Form Audio Package: “ETK”
Christopher Guerrero, Landon Jepson, Honorable Mention, Long-Form Audio Package: “Outfly Interview”
