Blue-and-white blitz at Student Keystone Media Awards

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Entries from Penn State students and student-driven news organizations at the University earned 19 first-place awards and were honored in almost every possible category of the recently announced Student Keystone Media Awards.

The Student Keystone Media Awards recognizes high school and college journalism that provides relevance, integrity and initiative in serving readers. Any student at any public, private or parochial Pennsylvania high school, college or university who has had their material published in the school newspaper may enter the contest. Students who have had their work published on a digital news site may enter the contest provided the site meets the criteria as outlined in the contest rules.

Penn State entries were part of the Division I of the competition, which is open to four-year colleges with enrollments of more than 10,000 students. The Daily Collegian won the Sweepstakes Award for the best news organization in the division.

Penn State Greater Allegheny, one of Penn State’s 20 Commonwealth Campuses, submitted entries as part of the Division II category and walked away with two awards.

Other Division I winners were:

GENERAL NEWS

• First Place, The Daily Collegian, Olivia Estright

ONGOING NEWS COVERAGE

• First Place, The Daily Collegian, Staff

FEATURE STORY

• First Place, The Daily Collegian, James Engel

PERSONALITY PROFILE

• First Place, The Daily Collegian, Luke Vargas

SPORTS STORY

• First Place, The Daily Collegian, Zach Allen 

EDITORIAL

• First Place, The Daily Collegian, Kit Schroder
• Second Place, The Daily Collegian, Phoebe Cykosky

COLUMN

• Honorable Mention, The Daily Collegian, Fernanda Lopez

CARTOON/GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION

• First Place, The Daily Collegian, Collegian, Ella Freda

SPORTS PHOTO

• First Place, CommMedia, Noah Riffe
• Second Place, CommMedia, Noah Riffe

FEATURE PHOTO

• First Place, CommMedia, Alicia Chiang
• Second Place, The Daily Collegian, Nick Eickhoff
• Honorable Mention, CommMedia, Noah Riffe

NEWS PHOTO

• First Place, CommMedia, Will Aguirre
• Second Place, CommMedia, Alysa Rubin
• Honorable Mention, CommMedia, Alysa Rubin

PHOTO STORY

• First Place, CommMedia, Alysa Rubin

LAYOUT AND DESIGN

• First Place, The Daily Collegian

WEBSITE

• First Place, The Daily Collegian

VIDEO STORY

• First Place, CommMedia, Jillian Wesner
• Second Place, CommMedia, Lily La Regina

PODCAST

• First Place, Mental State at Penn State (Kyle Schmidt, Anna Camden, Alexandra Waterman) Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4
• Honorable Mention, The Daily Collegian

EXCELLENCE IN REPORTING ON DIVERSITY-EQUITY AND INCLUSION

• Second Place, The Daily Collegian (Jessie Nguyen, Ella Castronuovo, Angelica Rubin)

BEST NEWSCAST (BROADCAST)

• First Place, “Centre County Report” Oct. 21, 2022
• Second Place, “Centre County Report,” 8 p.m. Election 2022 Centre County Report

BEST SPOT NEWS COVERAGE (BROADCAST)

• “Centre County Report,” Penn State Cancels Controversial Event (Isabella Leahy, Matt Noah)

BEST FEATURE (BROADCASTS)

• First Place, “Centre County Report,” TikTok’s Favorite Gym Teachers (Zach Gershman)
• Honorable Mention, “Centre County Report,” Caylix’s Story: A Reason for Rhythm (Preston Shoemaker)

BEST PUBLIC SERVICE (BROADCAST)

• First place, Penn State-WPSU, Deitric Murphy

BEST SPORTS COVERAGE (BROADCAST)

• First Place, “Centre County Report,” From Granite to Greatness (Eric Fenstermaker)
• Second Place, “After the Whistle,” Sept. 23, 2022
• Honorable Mention, “Centre County Report,” Fighting Mother Nature: The Future of Golf in Scotland, Preston Shoemaker