Special Honors

MIPA has a variety of contests throughout the year to challenge students, reward outstanding work and to recognize those who make contributions to scholastic journalism in our state. Learn more about MIPA’s various contests below.

MIPA’s Student Journalist Staff annually recognizes Michigan’s top student journalists. This is our all-state student journalist team. Members of the Student Journalist Staff are graduating students who excel at their student media outlets. They are selected based on portfolios of their work.
From among the members of the Student Journalist Staff, MIPA will honor a student as All-MIPA in each the following areas — news writing & reporting, news design, yearbook, video, photojournalism and multiplatform. In addition, one member of the Student Journalist Staff will be selected as Michigan’s representative in the Journalism Education Association’s national Journalist of the Year competition. Learn more

Each year MIPA presents the Golden Pen Award to an outstanding adviser of a scholastic student media outlet. It is the highest honor MIPA bestows on a current adviser. To win the award, an adviser is judged according to documentation and evidence — in portfolio form — provided by students. Learn more

MIPA’s Administrator of the Year award recognizes administrators who have shown strong interest in and support for scholastic journalism. Learn more

The John V. Field Award recognizes a person who is not currently a student media adviser for their significant contributions to scholastic journalism in Michigan. The award was first given in 1972 to John Field, who served as the executive director of MIPA for more than 20 years when MIPA was housed at the University of Michigan. Learn more

In 2002, MIPA launched its Hall of Fame to recognize student media with a tradition of excellence. To be inducted into the MIPA Hall of Fame, a student media outlet must accumulate nine Spartans in a 10-year span. Learn more