This year’s California College Media Association’s Excellence in Student Media Awards were a celebration of innovation and journalistic ideals in campus newspapers throughout the state. News teams in attendance hailed from major universities like UCLA, UC Berkeley and Stanford, who are nominated and decorated with awards most years. But this year, among the world-famous universities, CSU Monterey Bay’s relatively small Otter Realm news team made the biggest impression.
The Otter Realm scored across a range of categories, receiving 10 awards. Three of those were first-place honors. Best Headlines went to College of Science beat reporter Achelle Reynoso. Danny Simon, Katie Kishi and Stefan Farhner claimed Best Non-Breaking News Story for a front-page feature on rising water costs on campus. Best Special Section came for their year-end investigative reporting issue, the Otter Romp, which included stories on fracking in Monterey County and the rapidly growing student population at CSUMB.
“It really goes to show it doesn’t matter how established a program is,” says Otter Realm Editor-in-Chief Briana Mackey. “It’s about the motivation and creativity of the people involved.”
On a recent Monday, when Otter Realm staffers meet for a two-hour workshop class, several students leave the classroom with laptops, cameras and notebooks to report stories on campus.
Otter Realm adviser Estela Porras hovers over students to see how their articles are progressing. A student hands Porras a draft, and she looks for basic elements.
“What’s the story here?” Porras asks. “Why should readers care?”
Porras, who reported for a newspaper and a radio station in Colombia, has taught reporting and media production courses at CSUMB for six years.
Last semester there were 17 students enrolled in the Otter Realm workshop. This semester, due to an influx of transfer students, there are 34. It’s a leap made all the more interesting by the comparison to local papers like the Monterey Herald, which has seen its number of reporters shift from 16 in 2005 to six today.
“It’s always a good mix of writers,” Porras says. “But many students aren’t used to consuming news.”
At the beginning of each class, Porras plays an episode of Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me, a news quiz show on National Public Radio, to motivate students to stay informed about current events.
“Almost nobody here has had journalism experience,” says writer Sean Roney. “That’s why Otter Realm is exciting: It’s where people learn the principles and adapt.”
Belen Fernandez wrote the paper’s latest cover story on a CSUMB student debate at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.
“Interviewing people, taking photos, and researching terms I was unfamiliar with was stressful,” Fernandez says. “But it’s a great experience. Seeing my byline on the front page felt awesome.”
On production Mondays, Mackey and two other copy editors send the paper to a printer in Stockton, and by Thursday morning the latest issue ofOtter Realm finds its way to locations across campus.
“They’re catching on fast,” Mackey says of this semester’s staff. “You see your article on paper, it pushes you.”
The Otter Realm has 27 beats, ranging from traditional subjects like sports and local news to unique offerings like Latin@ (young Latinas and Latinos) and campus police. Some writers gravitate toward opinion pieces.
“I want to pull guys into the conversation about male privilege,” says Christopher Siders, who writes the “Memories of a Male Feminist” column. “I’m glad I have this outlet to spread the knowledge.”
Jamara Bernard is one of two environmental issues writers.
“This class is more than a requirement,” Bernard says. “It gives us the opportunity to have a voice.”
After the workshop, Porras teaches Media Production Lab, a smaller class where 18 students assemble infographics and digital content for the Otter Realm.
Tired, Very Tired, a podcast giving a first-person glimpse into a day as an exhausted student, earned second place for Best Podcast at the Student Media Awards. The Otter Realm aims to continue that success with a new series in Spanish: El Reino de la Nutria, now on Soundcloud, airs interviews with local Latinos, ranging from artists to teachers.
Soon the close-knit Otter Realm staff, who are all graduating seniors, will move on to new paths.
“It will be a big transition,” Mackey says of future student staff. “But I have no doubt they’ll do a great job. The people who do this are dedicated.”
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