Innovation in Journalism
The Mirror’s emphasis on innovation and digital storytelling has also been central to its success this year. Head of Mirror Digital and communication major Sophia Haber Brock ’26 pointed to the team’s growing focus on multimedia and audience engagement as a key factor in the recognition.
“With our integration of digital this year, recognition of our multimedia coverage shows our push to meet audiences where they are and adapt to the current media landscape,” she added. “Personally, it’s especially meaningful to see the digital storytelling we’ve been building get acknowledged, and it motivates us to keep growing, experimenting and finding new ways to report stories to keep our campus community informed. It makes me excited for the future of Mirror coverage at Fairfield.”
The Mirror was recognized for best social media coverage of a single event, best multimedia package, best opinion writing, and best crisis coverage. According to Xie, the range of awards speaks to the staff’s ability to tell meaningful stories across platforms while following professional standards.
“They care about events and issues that matter to the community, and they care about how to deliver those stories in a way that calibrates to the best practices in the professional world,” he said.
For Nazario Martir, who won first place for the Best Multimedia Package, the awards reflect the writers’ dedication to storytelling. “As a journalist, I have a mission of doing ‘journalist of that matters that matters,’ a belief of doing reporting on the topics people should know,” he said. “Whether it’s my story on DPS, the social media coverage of the snowstorm or the honorable mention for the Loyola Hall crisis coverage, the four Apple Awards we received highlight that the journalism we do at Fairfield is one that resonates with our audiences and the judges because it builds on the idea of reporting that matters.”
