After winning a national award for best independent online student publication last year, Ball Bearings, a student-run multimedia publication, is in the running to win again.

Ball Bearings recently won the regional first-place award in the Society of Professional Journalists' Mark of Excellence contest.

Even though Ball Bearings has received national recognition, editor in chief Jaki Clark said the staff members were trying to keep their heads on the ground and continue to be innovative.

"It's nice to win awards, but we need to keep moving forward," Clark said.

Mary Spillman, advisor for Ball Bearings, said she was proud of the students' hard work.

"The students at Ball Bearings are doing a wonderful job," Spillman said. "They publish once a week, which is very hard to do with their projects."

She said the staff was excited to be up for the national award again.

"We're keeping our fingers crossed," Spillman said.

Clark said winning the regional SPJ Mark of Excellence award was a feat in itself because Ball Bearing competed against publications in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.

There are only a handful of publications across the country similar to Ball Bearings, she said. Ball Bearings publishes weekly in-depth feature stories using audio, photos and interactive graphic elements.

Ball Bearings' staff doubled in size during the past year and now consists of about 30 people, Clark said. National recognition, as well as more flexibility in allowing people to volunteer and freelance, led to the increase in staff, she said.

The staff members work in teams of three or four people, usually including a reporter, photographer, designer and developer, or technology expert.

A normal feature story could take a team about six hours to complete; however, a larger feature could take up to 60 hours, Clark said. Each team also has a production leader that is in charge of the group.

"Because Ball Bearings works in teams, we have to be really open," Clark said. "If you can't trust each other, you won't have a good story."

Ball Bearings is preparing to re-launch its Web site at the end of the school year, Clark said. The site will help Ball Bearings reach its audience in a more visual way, she said.

"Every publication thrives and grows and changes," Clark said. "We feel we have to keep redesigning the Web site. It's going to look totally different than it does now."

The staff also recently received an honorable mention in the Interactive Multimedia Student Competition sponsored by the Broadcast Education Association for a feature titled "Healthy Eating, Healthy Living."
 

The news come from www.bossgoo.com

Ball Bearing