HARRISBURG, Pa. (WJAC) — The 6 News team was honored this week to win statewide prizes for excellence in journalism.
WJAC-TV won five Keystone Media Awards for stories aired in 2019. The awards, announced Thursday, are organized by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association after a merger this year with the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors awards.
The 6 News team won first place awards for “Best Spot News Coverage” and “Best Continuing Coverage” for stories related to a pair of deadly shootings in State College the night of January 24th. The newscasts were anchored by Tim Rigby, Jen Johnson, Sean Eiler, and Jessica Guay, with reports from Gary Sinderson, Bridget McClure, Alexis Wainwright, Sabrina Silva, Samantha York, and Crispin Havener.
Havener, along with photographers Stephen Toma, Shawn O’Domski and Erik Grant, won first place for “Best Investigative Reporting” for a two-part story that aired November 21st exposing a Florida-based company that bought hundreds of cheap homes in Johnstown, only to leave town amid local, state, and federal criminal investigations into their business practices that left investors out of millions of dollars. It's Havener's second straight year winning in the category, and third state award overall with WJAC. It's the third straight year a WJAC reporter won an AP/KMA award.
Johnson and Toma won second place for “Best Documentary” for the “WJAC 70th Anniversary Special: The Story Behind the Stories” that aired in December. The hour-long special looked back at how WJAC-TV got its start and has evolved over the years, with interviews from those who made it all possible.
Guay and Toma won an honorable mention for “Best Feature” for the August 9 edition of Guay’s ‘Making a Difference’ series, which featured an Ebensburg teen who used his love of gardening to plant hope for kids in the hospital. Guay and Toma also won an award last year in the same category.
Television, radio, and print outlets across the state submitted more than 2,700 entries in their respective contests, according to the PNA Foundation. 6 News competed for awards in 18 broadcast categories against television stations outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
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