The kudos keep coming for the small, but mighty, staff of the Northern Review, the collegiate newspaper at Ohio Northern University.
For the first time in school history, the Northern Review was named a top collegiate news organization in Ohio for colleges and universities with fewer than 10,000 students by the Ohio News Media Association (ONMA).
This recognition comes on the heels of a national honor in the fall, when the Northern Review was named one of the top five college media websites in the country by the College Media Association at MediaFest in Washington, D.C.
“We have a track record over the past decade that Ohio Northern produces quality stories that get to the heart of campus life and the spirit of the student body,” said Shane Tilton, associate professor of multimedia journalism and the Northern Review advisor.
While ONU tends not to get the “hard and breaking” stories that drive collegiate news organizations on larger campuses, adds Tilton, “our students do amazing data-driven journalism in ways that cover the changes to campus life.”
What they lack in resources and staffing, the Northern Review staff make up for in heart. Caring about the ONU community is the one prerequisite of every staff writer and editor, says Tilton
“Journalism is the voice and record of communities. It should highlight the successes and joys that everyone should know about, and address the hard issues that harm the people we care about. If student journalists learn that, it really comes down to how to tell a better story.”
Editor-in-chief Gabe Mott also notes that the Northern Review works to overcome the challenge of a small staff by “encouraging collaboration, welcoming outside submissions, and trying our best to work with our contributors’ busy schedules.”
The Northern Review has been the paper of record at ONU since 1919. In fact, the Society of Collegiate Journalists traces its roots to ONU. Alpha Phi Gamma was founded in Ada in 1919. This professional journalism honorary society later merged with Pi Delta Epsilon to form the Society of Collegiate Journalists.
In addition to being named a top collegiate news organization, the Northern Review garnered additional honors at the 2026 ONMA Newspaper Fellowship Day:
- Overall News Coverage and Website Design: Second place (universities with fewer than 10,000 students).
- In-depth Reporting: First place, Gabe Mott and Evelyn Megery (campus sickness coverage).
- Photojournalism: First place, Megery (Baldwin Wallace football game); Third place, Megery (mud volleyball).
- Best Multimedia Package: First place, Megery (The Secret Life of Klondike video essay); Second place, Megery (Rewriting the Small-Town Narrative: Why Journalism Matters in Rural Communities).
“The staff has worked hard for years and it was nice to see them get recognized by their peers across the nation,” says Tilton.