The Centurion, the student newspaper at Bucks County Community College based in Newtown, won a record 18 awards in the 2023 Keystone Media Awards contest, including firsts in a host of categories including 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 www.bucks-news.com.
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 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 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.
Rogers can be reached at tony.rogers@bucks.edu. For more information about the college’s journalism program, visit www.bucks.edu/journalism.
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