Bucks’ student newspaper, the Centurion, has set a personal record, winning 15 Keystone Awards in the 2019 Pennsylvania News Media Association competition.
This record is the most wins since the Centurion’s 2010 start in the yearly competition. Eight of the 15 awards were first-place victories.
This year the Centurion has let its colors shine with this distinguished achievement. The Centurion placed top in a variety of categories, the most notable being the new “Video Story” category with the top three spots going to Julia Pacifico, Hal Conte and Macy Moors.
The Centurion also received first place in “General News” category with an article by Francis Klingenberg. Klingenberg, 19, is attending his second semester at Bucks and was surprised to discover he had won two awards.
Klingenberg’s spot news photo of the Pastor Aden incident, taken from a position above the crowd, won second place in the news photo category.
He said “I was shocked, I wasn’t expecting it,” adding, “It is something to be proud of.”
Klingenberg described how he took the winning photo by observing the scene, then, “I jumped up on a bench in the middle of the crowd and reached up to press the rapid fire button on the phone’s camera,” he said.
The entire Centurion staff should be proud of its hard work and insightful articles in representing this college.
In all awards were credited to Klingenberg, Sarah Siock, Hal Conte, Connor Donaghy, Shannon Harrar, John Fey, Keri Marable, Jennifer Abele, Gabby Houck, Jilian Broskey, Jocelyn Pappas, Tyler Creighton, Julia Pacifico, Gabby Houck, Joe Roatche, and the Centurion staff.
Editor-in-chief of the Centurion, Sarah Siock, who won two awards, stated, “I think this shows how great the Journalism program here at Bucks is and all the hard work the students put in.”
The Centurion, competing in the community college division of the statewide contest, has won more than 100 awards since 2010.
The Centurion took home awards in “General News,” “Ongoing News Coverage,” “Public Service/Enterprise Package” and “Feature Story,” placing first place in all of them.
The Centurion also placed first for “Personality Profile,” “Feature Photo,” Website,” and “Video Story.”
The paper won honors for packages of stories about the #Metoo movement, the Parkland school shooting and resulting protests, and the 2018 midterms.
Journalism professor Tony Rogers, advisor to the Centurion, said, “This is due to the continuing hard work and dedication of the students who run the Centurion. Year after year they strive to make the Centurion one of the best college newspapers in Pennsylvania.”
He added, “I’m particularly pleased that the Centurion dominated hard-news categories like general news and ongoing news coverage. Some college newspapers fill their pages with reviews and opinion pieces, which certainly have their place but don’t involve much original reporting. In the journalism program at Bucks, our focus is on substantive interviewing and reporting, and that’s reflected in these results.
Rogers added, “I’m also very happy that the Centurion swept the new “video story” category, which involves students making digital videos that are posted online. I think this shows how successful our Jour278 “Webcast News Production” course is, because it’s the students in that class who do the videos for the Centurion.”
The winners will attend an awards lunch on Wednesday, April 3, in Hershey.
Full List of Centurion Winners:
General News First Place
Pastor Aden Pays Yet Another Visit to the Newtown Campus
Francis Klingenberg
General News Honorable Mention
Bucks Student is Arrested for Making Threat
Sarah Siock
Ongoing News Coverage First Place
Parkland Shooting/ March For Lives
Hal Conte, Connor Donaghy,
Shannon Harrar
Ongoing News Coverage Second Place
The 2018 Midterms
Sarah Siock, John Fey, Keri
Marable, Jennifer Abele
Public Service/Enterprise Package First Place
The #Metoo Movement
Gabby Houck, Jillian Broskey,
Jocelyn Pappas, Tyler Creighton
Feature Story First Place
Philly Inquirer Columnist Mike Sielski On Twitter, The Super Bowl & Fake News In New Age of Sports Journalism
Julia Pacifico
Feature Story Honorable Mention
The Opioid Epidemic: It Starts With Us
Gabby Houck
Personality Profile First Place
A Sit Down with Bucks Instructor and Congressional Candidate Steve Bacher
Gabby Houck
Feature Photo First Place
Three Cooks, 70 Reserved Tables, 100 Degree Kitchens: How Angela Shellenberger Takes the Heat, Every Day
Joe Roatche
News Photo Second Place
Pastor Aden Pays Yet Another Visit to the Newtown Campus
Francis Klingenberg
Layout and Design Honorable Mention
Gabby Houck, Shannon Harrar, Centurion Staff
Website First Place
Centurion Staff
Video Story First Place
Animal Adoption Event
Julia Pacifico
Video Story Second Place
Doylestown hosts women’s march
Hal Conte
Video Story Honorable Mention
Bucks men’s basketball
Macy Moors