Former LCCC student receives statewide journalism award

CASPER, WYO. — The Wyoming Press Association named a former Laramie County Community College student Young Journalist of the Year at the organization’s annual winter convention in January.

Cody Tucker, who was a writer and sports editor for Wingspan, the college’s student media organization, was a student at LCCC from fall 2009 to spring 2011.

Tucker, who grew up in Cheyenne and Pine Bluffs, is now the editor of the Douglas Budget.

WPA Executive Director Jim Angell said this award is designed to honor a journalist under the age of 35 for exemplary work in the field. The award is given based on a portfolio of work by the nominee and a letter of explanation from their publisher/editor.

The judge for the competition said: “With so many good stories in each of the entries, I was looking for something to set the winner apart. Cody Tucker's work did that by being immediate and personal, with memorable descriptions. Well done.”

 “The WPA simply confirmed what we saw in Cody when he worked at Wingspan and won numerous national awards competing with universities,” Rosalind Schliske, retired LCCC mass media instructor and Tucker’s adviser while he was on campus, said. “He understood the essence of great community journalism and has continued to improve upon those concepts in Douglas.”

Tucker earned four of the Douglas Budget’s 14 awards at the conference, including first-place honors for sports feature writing and information graphic design.