JMC students earn national finalist spot for Eudora Times merchandise project
LAWRENCE, Kan. — A team of students from the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications has been selected as one of 10 finalists nationwide in the Reynolds Journalism Institute's Student Innovation Competition.
The competition challenges students to develop innovative merchandise campaigns in partnership with local news organizations, with the winning team receiving a $10,000 prize.
The KU team includes Noorah Abdeljawad, Lucas Gomez and Trey Myers. The students developed the project for their Media Management class. They are partnering with the student-run Eudora Times to create and market a community-focused merchandise campaign designed to strengthen audience engagement and generate revenue for the local news outlet.
The team decided to create a ceramic mug depicting an illustrated map of Eudora. It will portray local businesses and landmarks while symbolizing the online newspaper’s connection to the community.
“I think it’s important because it gives the chance for the community to be seen and heard. Especially for the Eudora Times,” said Abdeljawad. “Local newspapers, especially in rural communities, are really struggling to stay open, which is sad to see. We hope the Eudora Times benefits from this.”
The team plans to sell the mugs with recipes from Eudora students in culinary classes. They also hope to recruit local businesses to sell the mugs, turning the campaign into a community-wide effort. All funds raised would go to supporting the community paper.
“Eudora (Times) is also non-subscription based. They don’t have a lot of internal revenue. Most what they get is through donations. So any way we can help that and make sure they can still run helps,” added Myers.
As finalists, the students will receive up to $500 in startup funding from the Reynolds Journalism Institute to develop, produce and sell their merchandise project during the fall semester.
The Student Innovation Competition is organized by the Reynolds Journalism Institute and encourages students to develop sustainable revenue ideas for local news organizations. Finalist teams will implement their projects, present their results to a panel of judges and compete for cash prizes. First place receives $10,000, second place, $2,500 and third place, $1,000.
“I think it’s amazing! I’m really excited they made it to the finals,” said the team’s adviser Sarah Cavanah, assistant professor for the JMC School. “They have a really good idea. It’s really locally centered, and I think it’s going to turn out great.”
Teams will work on their projects through November before presenting their results to judges in December. Winners will be announced during an awards ceremony in January 2027.