The Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Foundation has honored journalists from Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation with seven first-place awards and 22 total awards — more than any Pennsylvania news organization in its competition category — in the 2024 Keystone Media Awards.
The Keystone Media Awards, announced on June 18, recognize "journalism that consistently provides relevance, integrity and initiative in serving readers and audiences, and faithfully fulfills its First Amendment rights/responsibilities."
Awards to honorees in this annual statewide competition will be presented during a luncheon on Oct. 17 in Harrisburg.
First-place winners from WESA and The Allegheny Front are:
- Best Newscast, WESA, Jeremy Scott, Aug. 3, 2023
- Best Series, WESA, Oliver Morrison, An-Li Herring and Sarah Schneider for “Pittsburgh's Downtown Troubles”
- Best Public Service, WESA, Jillian Forstadt for “With 14 challenged books, Pine-Richland School District wades into Pa. book ban debate”
- Best Regularly Scheduled News or Sports Talk Program, WESA, “The Confluence,” Kevin Gavin, Marylee Williams, Laura Tsutsui & Emma Furry for “How survivors and families impacted by the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting can access support”
- Best Use of Sound, WESA, Oliver Morrison and Jillian Forstadt for “Hundreds gather for the funeral of Brackenridge Police Chief Justin McIntire in New Kensington”
- Best Continuing Coverage, The Allegheny Front, Julie Grant, Reid Frazier, Kathy Knauer & Kara Holsopple for “Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio”
- Best Feature, The Allegheny Front, Julie Grant for “Community attends 'Calling Hours,' a memorial for its deceased coal plant”
Second-place winners from WESA and The Allegheny Front are:
- Best Spot News Coverage, WESA, Oliver Morrison & Cindi Lash for “Pittsburgh Police shoot, kill suspect sought in death of Brackenridge police chief”
- Best Public Service, WESA, Julia Zenkevich and Jillian Forstadt for “Students with disabilities held at Allegheny County Jail face discrimination, complaint alleges”
- Best Regularly Scheduled News or Sports Talk Program, WESA, “The Confluence,” Kiley Koscinski, Marylee Williams, Laura Tsutsui & Emma Furry for “Pittsburgh community groups say they need support tackling 'Violence pandemic'”
- Best Digital Presence. WESA, Patrick Doyle, Katie Blackley & Jakob Lazzaro for wesa.fm
- Best Sports Feature, WESA, Jillian Forstadt for “Pittsburgh's roller derby youth cruise to national championships, where teams center inclusivity”
- Best Continuing Coverage, The Allegheny Front, Julie Grant for “Fracking in Ohio Parks”
- Best Enterprise Reporting, The Allegheny Front, Reid Frazier for “Health care has a massive carbon footprint. These UPMC doctors are trying to change that”
- Podcast (Broadcast), The Allegheny Front, Kara Holsopple, Reid Frazier, Julie Grant & Kathy Knauer
Honorable Mention winners from WESA and The Allegheny Front are:
- Best Newscast, WESA, Jeremy Scott, March 3, 2023
- Best Spot News Coverage, WESA, Jillian Forstadt for” Amid pressure from the Diocese of Pittsburgh, organizers of LGBTQ solidarity mass cancel service”
- Best Continuing Coverage, WESA, Oliver Morrison for “East Palestine Train Derailment”
- Best Series, WESA, Kate Giammarise and Sarah Boden of WESA and Ed Mahon of Spotlight PA for “Pennsylvania's Opioid Settlement Money”
- Best Public Service, WESA, Jillian Forstadt for “Mon Valley leaders have $5M in U.S. Steel fines to spend, but little has gone to public health”
- Best Digital Presence, WESA. Patrick Doyle & Chris Potter for WESA “Voting Matters”
- Best Use of Sound, WESA, Oliver Morrison for “The last thing that made East Liberty, East Liberty: Customers flock to Vento's for one last slice."
