Editors and staff of The Delta Statement, Delta State University’s student-led newspaper,
won 12 awards, including a program-record of six first place awards, in news, editorials,
sports, photography, video, layout and design, investigative reporting and general
excellence in the 2015-16 Mississippi Press Association competition for print newspapers
at four-year universities.

The awards were presented at the annual O.C. McDavid Journalism Conference in
Jackson on March 24. The Delta State wins were against competition from campus
newspapers produced at much larger universities, including Mississippi State, the
University of Southern Mississippi and Jackson State.

Conor Bell, former news editor of The Delta Statement, won first place for his reporting
on the elimination of the journalism program at Delta State. The judges said Bell’s story
was “written like it was written by a seasoned professional.” Bell also earned first place
in the General Interest Column category, while current editor of the online-only Delta
Statement, Aallyah Wright, won third place for best general interest column.

Elisabetta Zengaro, 2014-15 Delta Statement editor-in-chief, won first place for best
sports feature on former DSU baseball coach Bill Marchant and first place for best sports
photo of Delta State swimmer Matteo Fraschi. Zengaro also won first place for her
“informative and thought provoking” editorials on the importance of journalism.

Zengaro and Bell also took first place in the category for in-depth and investigative
reporting for their work covering the cuts to journalism at Delta State. The judges said the duo showed “great work … in a seemingly insurmountable situation” for their reporting.

New to this year, the MPA added a video category, and former online editor Matteo
Zengaro won third place for best use of video for inside footage shot of the student
evacuation during the campus shooting at Delta State. Former sports editor Florian
Mondoloni won second place for best sports column.

Tiago Doneux, fall 2015 editor of The Delta Statement, won second place in the front
page competition and second place for best layout and design.
The Delta Statement also won second place for general excellence—getting edged out by
Mississippi State’s The Reflector for first place. General excellence is awarded based on
overall reporting and design.

The six first place awards represent the most the publication has won from the MPA
competition. As part of university-wide budget cuts, The Delta Statement transitioned to
an online-only formant in 2016. The 12 awards from this year’s competition represent the
last the publication will be eligible for, unless it returns to print, because MPA Awards are
awarded to print publications.