The editorial team of The Centre County Gazette picked up eight awards in the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association’s 2022 Professional Keystone Media Awards contest.
Correspondent Karen Walker won first place in the Business or Consumer Story category for her article, “Trapping and Rapping,” which appeared in the May 6 edition of CCG. Mark Nale, CCG’s outdoors correspondent, picked up a first-place award in the Sports/Outdoors Column category for his monthly Nature’s Ways column, which features a different animal or plant species native to Pennsylvania.
CCG editor G. Kerry Webster and page designer Beth Woods collaborated to land a first-place award for Sports Page Design. Former publisher Bernie Oravec won first place in the Editorial category.
Staff writer Vincent Corso grabbed a second-place award in the Ongoing News Coverage category for his work with the Bellefonte Red Raiders moniker and imagery controversy. In the Sports Feature Photo category, freelance photographer Steve Tressler earned a second-place award for his photo of Penn State linebacker Ellis Brooks interacting with fans at the Blue-White Game in April 2021.
Webster and Woods also teamed to get a second-place award in the News Page Design category and secured second place in the Photo/Graphics Illustration for their design work featuring the State College and Bellefonte Little League teams.
“I am grateful to see that the team at the CCG received all the recognition from your peers at the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association,” said Barash Media owner Mike Donnelly. “I love to see that multiple people were winners. It demonstrates the depth of our team and the quality work that everyone does. The CCG is a newspaper that we can take pride in by making a difference to the readers we serve.”
Earlier this year, more than 2,500 entries were received from 110 Pennsylvania news organizations. Entries – in 53 regular categories and 12 specialty categories across seven circulation and four broadcast divisions – were judged by journalists in Virginia.
The Centre County Gazette competes in Division V, which is for weekly news publications with circulations more than 6,000. Publications in this division includes the TheBurg, Harrisburg; Bucks County Herald; Lititz Record Express; South Philly Review; and North East Times.
The Keystone Media Awards — formerly called the Keystone Press Awards before merging with the PAPME Media Awards in 2020 — reinforce excellence by individuals in the news media profession, by recognizing journalism that consistently provides relevance, integrity and initiative in serving readers and audiences and faithfully fulfills its First Amendment rights/responsibilities. Further, the Keystone Media Awards stimulate journalists to improve their craft and ultimately improve their community.
Awards will be presented during the Keystone Media Awards Brunch on Oct. 12 in conjunction with the News Media Business Summit at the Sheraton Hershey Harrisburg Hotel, Harrisburg.
