Community College Student Newspaper Wins 15 Awards In Statewide Contest

Provided by Bucks County Community College:

The Centurion, the student newspaper at Bucks County Community College, based in Newtown Township and with campuses in Bristol Township and Upper Bucks County, won 15 awards in the 2022 Keystone Media Awards contest, including firsts in general news, news photo, layout and design, website, and video story. 

The Centurion, which is entirely student run and financially independent, has won nearly 150 awards in the contest since 2010, making it one of the most-honored student newspapers in Pennsylvania. It can be found online at www.bucks-news.com.

For more information about the college’s journalism program, go to www.bucks.edu/journalism

Tony Rogers, the college’s journalism professor and faculty advisor to the Centurion, said the awards were for work done in the spring and fall semesters of 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This was an especially difficult time at the Centurion,” Rogers said. “Enrollment at Bucks was hit hard by the pandemic, which meant the Centurion was operating with a much smaller staff and with many students working remotely.”

Still, Rogers added, Centurion staffers managed to do terrific work.

“There’s never been a time that I’ve been more proud of my students,” he said.

Editor in Chief Lucas Darling, a sophomore journalism major, said the Centurion’s “writers and editors put in a lot of effort to make the paper happen. I’m happy that those efforts are being recognized.”

He added: “It’s not easy to get the paper done remotely, but we still make a great final product. It’s awesome to get some awards myself, and it’s also cool to see some of the people that I work with on the paper get awards too.”

Much of the award-winning work focused on the pandemic and its effects on the college. The Centurion won second place in the Ongoing News Coverage category for a package of articles titled “Year Two of the Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic,” and second place in the Public Service/Enterprise category for “Special Report: The COVID Shutdown at Bucks, One Year Later.” 

The Centurion won first place in Layout and Design for a front page titled “A Socially Distant Year,” in which the paper’s layout editors used text and photos to create a timeline of the pandemic.

And the Centurion swept the Video Story category with videos by former Centurion editor Alyssa Moore called “Dealing with COVID-19 Stress” and “Centurion Editor Keeps Putting Out the Paper, Despite the Pandemic.”

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.

Rogers said he was especially proud of the fact that the paper won second place in the newly created Diversity category, for articles on a celebration of pride month, a virtual Juneteenth event and an article on the history and impact of Black History Month.

Below is a complete list of the Centurion winners:

General News
First Place
Beloved Bucks Professor Dr. Christopher Bursk Dies at Age 78 
Echo Rogers

Ongoing News Coverage
Second Place
Year Two of the Ongoing COVID‐19 Pandemic
Alyssa Allebach, Gabriella Pirmann, Lucas Darling

Public Service/Enterprise Package
Second Place
Special Report: The COVID Shutdown at Bucks, One Year Later
Gabriella Pirmann, Lucas Darling, Alyssa Moore

Public Service/Enterprise Package
Honorable Mention
Special Report: The Fallout From the 2020 Election
Lucas Darling, Gabriella Pirmann

Feature Story
Second Place
A Conversation with President Ganther 
James Bonnell

Sports Story
Second Place
Bucks Women’s Soccer Team Season Preview
Mitchel Wilbur

Sports Story
Honorable Mention
Bucks Men’s Soccer Team Season Preview
Colin Riccardi

Review
Second Place
‘No Time to Die’ is a ‘Perfect Send‐Off for Craig’s Bond’
Mark Ruffin

Review
Honorable Mention
‘Shang‐Chi’ is ‘Action Movie Perfection’
Mark Ruffin

News Photo
First Place
Pastor Aden Visits Bucks Once Again 
Gabriella Pirmann

Layout and Design
First Place
A Socially Distant Year
John Madden, Olivia Ruddell

Website
First Place
www.bucks-news.com
Lucas Darling

Video Story

First Place
Dealing With COVID‐19 Stress
Alyssa Moore

Video Story
Second Place
Centurion editor keeps putting out the paper, despite the pandemic 
Alyssa Moore

Diversity
Second Place
Celebrating Pride Month with Senator Steven Santarsiero and Kevin Antoine; Bucks County Community College hosts Virtual Juneteenth Event; The History And Impact Of Black History Month
Echo Rogers, Mark Ruffin, Lucas Darling

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