The Gettysburgian Wins Six Keystone Media Awards Including First and Second Place for Ongoing News Coverage
12 Gettysburgian staff members contributed to work that was recognized in the 2020 Keystone Media Awards
Staff Report
The Gettysburgian has won six awards as part of the annual Student Keystone Media Award competition. Administered by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association and judged by professional journalists from across the state, the Keystone Media Awards (previously known as Keystone Press Awards) are a competition of Pennsylvania college and university newspapers and media organizations. The Gettysburgian competes in Division II, which is for four-year institutions with fewer than 10,000 students.
In each of the past two years, The Gettysburgian has won three awards and never more than one first place award. This year, the staff won six awards including three first place awards, both of which appear to be new records for The Gettysburgian.
The awards were:
- First Place, Ongoing News Coverage of the Bob Garthwait Resignation (Benjamin Pontz, Gauri Mangala, Mary Frasier, Jane Fitzpatrick, Maddie Neiman, Lizzie Hobbs, Joshua Wagner, Nicole DeJacimo, and Charlie Williamson)
- Second Place, Ongoing News Coverage of Bob Iuliano’s hiring as Gettysburg’s President (Gauri Mangala, Benjamin Pontz, Phoebe Doscher, and Nicole DeJacimo)
- First Place, Layout & Design for our magazine infographic about student attitudes towards vaping (Lauren Hand)
- First Place, Website & Social Media (Staff)
- Second Place, Reviews for a September review of a Wind Symphony & Symphony Orchestra concert (Benjamin Pontz)
- Honorable Mention, Editorials on Arming DPS, Stress Culture on Campus, and Sustainability on Campus (Joshua Wagner, Anna Cincotta, Benjamin Pontz & Staff)
In total, the awards recognize work produced by 12 members of the staff.
“To say I am thrilled would be an understatement,” Editor-in-Chief Benjamin Pontz ’20 said. “These awards recognize the Herculean efforts of our staff to illuminate the Gettysburg College campus over the past year. It is a joy to work with a team that is so eager to tell stories in new and compelling ways and that does so with conscientiousness and judiciousness that has helped to place our organization in such a position of strength. These awards capture some of the fruits of that commitment, but I get to see it every day.”
In particular, Pontz said he was gratified to receive recognition for the organization’s coverage of Bob Garthwait’s resignation from the Board of Trustees.
“Recognition for our coverage of the Bob Garthwait story is particularly meaningful given that our staff simultaneously grappled with the news as students and reported it to the community as journalists, a delicate balance handled with the level of dedication, professionalism, and appropriate touch of craziness this team brings to the organization day in and day out,” he said.
About The Gettysburgian
The Gettysburgian has been the official student newspaper of Gettysburg College since 1897. Publishing a monthly magazine and continuously online and via social media, the organization’s staff includes more than 50 regular writers and contributors representing a variety of academic disciplines across campus.
