The Middlebury Campus Named 2025 New England College Newspaper of the Year
The Middlebury Campuswas named the 2025 New England College Newspaper of the Year on March 14 by the New England Newspaper and Press Association, marking the first time the 121-year-old publication has received the honor, according to its editors.
The paper was selected in the college division of the New England Better Newspaper Competition over 17 other entrants representing Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island.
Judges praised The Campus’s election edition for coverage that is “often ignored or skimmed over by news outlets” and highlighted the entrepreneurial approach of the Zeitgeist Survey and related stories, noting the variety of angles, effective use of graphics, and the initiative’s successful seven-year run.
“It’s very meaningful to be recognized for our staff’s hard work,” said former editor in chief Madeleine Kaptein ’25.5. “The issues we submitted for review (election and Zeitgeist) were especially representative of The Campus’s willingness to go the extra mile in our reporting.”
Evaluators also highlighted the paper’s “enterprising work, with several years’ worth of projects available to read online.” They described the print edition as “polished” and praised the website as looking “as good as some professional news sites.”
Kaptein was joined at the Better Newspaper Competition Awards Banquet in Portsmouth, N.H., held annually to honor the best newspapers and news websites in New England, by former business director and sports editor Ting Cui ’25.5 and news editor Rachelle Talbert ’28. Other members of the 2025 editorial team include editor in chief Mandy Berghela ’26, news editor Cole Chaudhari ’26, managing editor Yuvraj Shah ’25, and former editor in chief Ryan McElroy ’25.
The Addison Independent won 28 awards, including first place in General Excellence among large weekly newspapers. “We had a great time with the Addison Independent staff at the conference and are grateful to them for encouraging us to come learn about the journalism industry in New England and receive the award in person,” said Kaptein.