The Rocket has been recognized with 34 awards from five regional and national journalism associations for work done by its editors and contributors in 2012-13. The Rocket was one of three newspapers nationwide to be named Most Outstanding University Newspaper for 2012-13 by the American Scholastic Press Association. The Society of Professional Journalists named The Rocket the Best All-Around Non Daily Newspaper (Medium) in their 4th region. The Society for Collegiate Journalists awarded The Rocket an Honorable Mention for Overall Newspaper Excellence (weekly or less). The Rocket’s website was also given a Third Place designation by the Society for Collegiate Journalists and was given an Honorable Mention award by the Pennsylvania News Media Association.
Rocket Photo Editor Alex Mowrey received 17 regional and national individual prizes including two First Place National awards and one National Finalist award from the Society of Professional Journalists and two nationwide awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. Overall, Rocket staffers and contributors received 29 individual awards in the categories of writing, design, photography and multimedia production.
“The unprecedented recognition of the work done by The Rocket editors and contributors this year is a testament to their hard work and commitment to collegiate journalism,” said Rocket Adviser and Associate Professor Mark Zeltner.
Following is a list of awards won by The Rocket in 2012-13:
Society for Collegiate Journalists
Newspaper Overall Excellence (weekly or less): Honorable Mention: The Rocket
Companion Newspaper Website: Third Place: theonlinerocket.com
Front Page Design: Second Place: “3-2-12” by Courtney Nickle
Editorial Page Design: First Place: “3-23-12” by Courtney Nickle
News Page Design: Second Place: “Presidential Campaign” by Will DeShong
Photo Essay: First Place: “Year in Sports” by Alex Mowrey
News Stories: Second Place: “Student jumps out window to evade fire” by Jon Janasik
Editorials: First Place: Will DeShong
Continuing News Coverage: Third Place: “APSCUF prepares for strike authorization vote” by Jon Janasik,
Sports News: Second Place: “One & Done” by Madeline Williams
Sports Feature: Honorable Mention: “Junior Twirler” by Tim Durr
News Photography: Honorable Mention: “Humans vs. Zombies” by Alex Mowrey
Feature Photography Third Place: “Getting Inked” by Alex Mowrey
Editorial Cartoons: First Place: Emily Schubert
Graphic Illustration: Second Place: “New weapons policy” by Emily Schubert
Multimedia Sports Story: Second Place: “Frame by frame victory” by Alex Mowrey
Photo Slideshow: Second Place: “Mac Miller Concert” by Alex Mowrey
Third Place: “SRU vs. Univ. of Michigan” by Alex Mowrey
Society of Professional Journalists: Nationwide
Breaking News Photography (Medium): First Place: “A Son Remembered” by Alex Mowrey
Sports Photography (Medium) First Place: “The Catch” by Alex Mowrey
Feature Photography (Medium) Nationwide Finalist: “Country Must Be Country Wide” by Alex Mowrey
Society of Professional Journalists: Region 4
Best All-Around Non-Daily Student Newspaper (Medium) First Place: The Rocket
Breaking News Photography (Medium) First Place: “A Son Remembered” by Alex Mowrey
Feature Photography (Medium) First Place: “Country Must Be Country Wide” by Alex Mowrey
Sports Photography (Medium) First Place: “The Catch” by Alex Mowrey
American Scholastic Press Association
Most Outstanding University Newspaper for 2012-13
First Place with Special Merit Award: The Rocket
Pennsylvania News Media Association: Keystones
Review Honorable Mention: “Sum 41’s Anniversary Tour” by Will DeShong
Feature Photo First Place: “Finally Famous” by Alex Mowrey
News Photo Honorable Mention: “A son remembered” Alex Mowrey
Photo Story Second Place: “A year in Rock athletics” by Alex Mowrey
Website Honorable Mention: theonlinerocket.com by James Intile
Columbia Scholastic Press Association
Single feature photograph Second Place: “Finally Famous” by Alex Mowrey
Photo layout: Two or more pages Certificate of Merit “Rock around the world” by Alex Mowrey and Lexi Kovski
