The Centurion, the student newspaper at Bucks County Community College, won a record 18 awards in the 2023 Keystone Media Awards contest, including firsts in a host of categories such as general and ongoing news, public service/enterprise journalism, diversity reporting, sports and website.
The Centurion, which is entirely student-run and financially-independent, has won more than 160 awards in the contest since 2010, making it one of the most-honored student newspapers in Pennsylvania. It is online at bucks-news.com.
Tony Rogers, the college’s journalism professor and faculty advisor to The Centurion, said the awards were for the work done in the spring and fall semesters of 2022, as the college began to emerge from the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Throughout the pandemic, Centurion editors have not only continued to publish the paper, but done exceptional work even with fewer staffers and in difficult circumstances,” Rogers said. “These awards are a testament to their hard work and dedication.”
The Centurion swept the General News category with coverage of local reaction to the Supreme Court ruling on abortion, the midterm elections and a visit by a racist preacher to the campus. The paper also swept the Ongoing News category with election coverage and articles about the college’s emergence from the pandemic.
Among other awards, The Centurion swept the Feature Story category with a profile of a Bucks County eatery, a look at the pressures faced by students who work long hours outside college, and the story of a Bucks professor who rebuilt her home after it was destroyed by the Delaware River flooding.
The paper also swept the Sports Story category and took firsts for its website, Layout and Design and Diversity Reporting.
The Keystone contest is administered by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. The Centurion competes in Division III, which includes two-year colleges from across the state.
This year’s competition for the first time featured a Sweepstakes Award given to colleges winning the most points in their respective divisions. The Centurion won the sweepstakes for Division III.
A complete list of winners from The Centurion is as follows:
General News
– First place: Overturning of Roe v. Wade Leaves Many Bucks County Women Feeling Betrayed, Karolina Matyka
– Second place: A Chaotic Tradition: Pastor Aden Revisits Bucks, Skylar Woodford
– Honorable mention: Pennsylvania Election Results Debunk Red Wave Narrative, Grace Levy
Ongoing News Coverage
– First place: Bucks Builds Back Post-Pandemic, Lucas Darling, James Bonnell, Judith Russo, Colin Riccardi
– Second place: Election 2022, Grace Levy, Christian Grosso, Evan Anderson, Jenna Lowenthal
Public Service/Enterprise Package
– First place: Bucks builds back post-pandemic, Lucas Darling, Timothy Hubing
Feature Story
– First place: From Four Lanes to the Hotel: Inside the Langhorne Borough’s Eatery, James Bonnell
– Second place: Bucks Professor Rebuilds her Lambertville Home After Worst Flash Flood in Town’s History, Hannah Boscola
– Honorable mention: Bucks Students Feel Pressures of Balancing School and Work, Hannah Boscola
Personality Profile
– First place: A Musical Journey in Allegro, Judith Russo
– Honorable mention: Sawdust, Skateboards and Passion: A Sloan Palder Story, James Bonnell
Sports Story
– First place: Bucks Men’s Soccer Team Are ESAC Champions, Evan Anderson
– Second place: Phillies’ Cinderella Run Falls Short of Storybook Ending, James Bonnell
– Honorable mention: Bucks Baseball Team Has Big Impact in Small College World Series, Mason Gross
Column
– Second place: New Policy Banning Over 400 Titles from School Shelves Spikes Outrage in the Community; White Mermaid? Black Mermaid? It’s a Mermaid, People, Timothy Hubing
Layout and Design
– First place: Sawdust and Skateboards, Lucas Darling, Carmen Gisondi
Website
– First place: Lucas Darling, Max Mower
Excellence in Reporting on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
– First place: New Introduction to Queer Studies Course at Bucks; Governor Tom Wolf Bans LGBTQ+ Conversion Therapy in Pennsylvania for Minors; Disability Rights Advocate Haben Girma: “The Biggest Barrier I Face is Ableism”, Parker DeStefano, Grace Levy, Aileen Gorman Leong, Hannah Boscola
