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The Temple News and Philadelphia Neighborhoods Win 19 Keystone Student Media Awards

By Emma Paige

Mar. 28, 2022

On March 15, 2022, the winners of the 2022 Keystone Student Media Awards were announced, and many Temple University student journalists are still celebrating the success of The Temple News and Philadelphia Neighborhoods across several categories for a total of 19 awards. The Temple News earned 12 of those, which is the highest number earned by a single publication in the Division I category this year.

The awards are a statewide competition where schools compete in divisions based on their number of students. Temple competes in the Division I category against other colleges with more than 10,000 students. Works are entered by the editors of each publication and judged by a Pennsylvania News Media Association committee.

The Temple News received awards in diverse categories ranging from general news to podcasting. One story, "Temple students in phases 1A, 1B receive COVID-19 vaccines" written by current Editor-in-Chief Lawrence Ukenye (he/him) and past Editor-in-Chief Madison Karas (she/her) won honorable mention in the news category.

When Karas entered stories for the 2021 awards, she liked to gain the input of other staff at The Temple News and had people recommend ones they thought were particularly good. Though she passed off the editor-in-chief position to Ukenye, Karas is happy to have covered much of the pandemic during her time at The Temple News. 

“I’m happy a) that I was able to cover it and b) any recognition on top of that is welcomed,” Karas said. 

Ukenye noted how the pandemic caused the staff to be better to match the intense times they were in, but is also happy that some “non-covid stories” got recognized such as Amelia Winger’s profile on former Temple President Richard Englert before he retired. 

“We are very much multidimensional and we didn’t just, I don’t know, cash [in] on having a bunch of stories related to one specific topic,” Ukenye said.

Ukenye also expressed the rewarding feeling that came from this year's awards covering parts of both his and Karas’s time as editor-in-chief. When it came time for him to submit stories for the 2022 awards, Ukenye tried to pick pieces that represented what was going on at the university at specific junctures as well as ones that showcase The Temple News’s innovation as a paper.

For the first time ever, The Temple News had a podcast, RePrint by Olivia Hall, to enter as well as cool graphics for some of their stories done by Ethan Carroll and Sarah Walters. Ukenye is proud that not only did The Temple News win in categories in which they traditionally excel, such as personality profiles, but they also pushed the envelope by trying new things. 

Karas also won First Place Sports Story for her article, “Southwest: A Day at John Bartram High School’s Football Homecoming”, written for Philadelphia Neighborhoods. Before participating in Philadelphia Neighborhoods for her senior capstone, Karas worked for the paper when she was a sophomore.

“I’m so impressed with the quality of work that they’ve been able to put together because it’s not easy,” said Philadelphia Neighborhoods Program Manager and Editor Christopher Malo, KLN ’12 ‘19 (he/him). 

When reflecting on the years’ worth of stories submitted to the awards, Malo praised the phenomenal work students did in the face of barriers due to the pandemic. Every student, regardless of whether or not they won, was flexible with their reporting and sensitive to the needs of the communities they served, Malo said.

This includes Karas, who had never written a sports story but was able to use her experience writing features to write a wonderful piece about the community she was assigned. 

Managing Director of Student Media John DiCarlo, KLN ‘98 ‘06 (he/him) echoed Malo’s sense of pride in the work Temple student journalists have done in the last year. “They never lost sight of their integrity, their work ethic, their commitment to fair and thorough reporting and relationship building with the communities they cover,” he wrote.

One of the awards of which Malo and DiCarlo are most proud is Philadelphia Neighborhoods winning first place in the diversity category. This, Malo noted, does not just mean they wrote one story that promoted diversity, but rather their whole publication is focused on serving underrepresented communities. 

Not many colleges, if any at all, have programs similar to Philadelphia Neighborhoods where students are able to report on communities outside of the campus and throughout the city. Philadelphia Neighborhoods’ recognition at this year’s Keystones is not only a win for the Temple Journalism Department, but a win for the communities the program serves.

“What I think is so special about Temple’s journalism program is having the opportunity and being encouraged just to run out the door and go out and report,” Karas said. Ukenye said that these awards speak to how well student journalists have bought into the mission of student media at Temple.

Malo agreed, and added that the combination of students, faculty and urban environment all intersect to create the special programs and publications that are proud to win, but even more proud to serve. 

 

A complete list of Temple’s 2022 Keystone Student Media awards:

The Temple News

Philadelphia Neighborhoods