Mirror takes top honor in Keystone Media Awards
Staff members collect 22 individual, group honors to earn Sweepstakes Award
Buck Frank won first place for sports page design with his entry that included “Bowling over Boise.”
Cynthia Wise took second place news page design honors for her entry that included “Still making the cut.”
Mirror photographer Patrick Waksmunski snagged first-place honors in the sports action photo category for this photo of the Curve’s Mitch Jebb scoring on a throwing error by Erie third baseman John Peck on a Konnor Griffin single called “One more needed.”
Michael Boytim won first place in the sports breaking news/event coverage category for “On Cloud Nine – BG girls championship coverage.”
Matt Churella received an honorable mention for a business/consumer story for his article “A shadow of itself.”
Cynthia Wise won second place for her photo story/essay “A hero’s welcome.”
Buck Frank won first place for sports page design with his entry that included “Bowling over Boise.”
Cynthia Wise took second place news page design honors for her entry that included “Still making the cut.”
Mirror photographer Patrick Waksmunski snagged first-place honors in the sports action photo category for this photo of the Curve’s Mitch Jebb scoring on a throwing error by Erie third baseman John Peck on a Konnor Griffin single called “One more needed.”
Michael Boytim won first place in the sports breaking news/event coverage category for “On Cloud Nine – BG girls championship coverage.”
Matt Churella received an honorable mention for a business/consumer story for his article “A shadow of itself.”
Cynthia Wise won second place for her photo story/essay “A hero’s welcome.”
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The Altoona Mirror is being recognized this year with the coveted Sweepstakes Award in its circulation category, after staff members collected 22 individual and group honors in the annual Keystone Media Awards contest.
The Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, a Harrisburg-based nonprofit trade association for print and digital media, sponsors the contest annually and accepts entries in a variety of categories to recognize reporting, writing, photography, page design and graphics.
While Mirror staffers have come close in prior years to winning the Sweepstakes Award, this is the first year the newspaper has won the top honor in a competition of multi-day publications with circulation ranging from 10,000 to 24,999.
"Winning this year's Sweepstakes Award is very gratifying for the Mirror and the newsroom staff," Publisher Dan Slep said. "While the award recognizes excellence in journalism, it's also evidence of the Mirror's steadfast dedication and ongoing commitment to the community and to our readers."
Managing Editor Holly Claycomb also welcomed news of the Mirror's success in capturing this year's Sweepstakes Award.
"It's an achievement that the entire newsroom should share because it takes a great team to do what we do, day after day, year in and year out," Claycomb said.
The Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association offers the Keystone Media Awards contest annually to encourage and recognize excellence by individuals in the news media profession. It relied on members of the Alabama Press Association to review 2,540 entries and to select the winners. The Sweepstakes Award is presented to the news organizations that accumulate the most points within their circulation categories.
The Mirror also collected points toward the top honor by winning PNA's Public Service Award for its 2025 Season of Sharing campaign. In that effort, the Mirror publicized and solicited donations for Dreams Go On, a nonprofit therapeutic horseback riding program in Hollidaysburg.
The Mirror news staff was also recognized in the contest with a first-place award in the Enterprise Reporting category. That entry included several stories from a series titled: "COVID-19, Five Years Later."
Individual honors are as follows:
-- Michael Boytim won first place in the sports breaking news/event coverage category for "On Cloud Nine - BG girls championship coverage." He also won first place for three sports/outdoor columns: "Parents: Your kids are paying attention," "Clock delay was always money-related," "The blueprint for future soccer success."
In addition, Boytim received second place in sports enterprise for "Playoff Parade" and an honorable mention for his sports beat reporting on "Scholastic Sports."
-- Buck Frank won first place for sports page design, with his entry showcasing pages with the following headlines: "Bowling over Boise," "Dashing through the snow," "Back-to-back," "More work to be done," "Eyes on the quarterback" and "Motor City madness."
-- William Kibler won first place for his ongoing news coverage of "APD officer conduct under review."
-- Kay Stephens won first place for a package of three editorials: "Public notices must remain accessible," "Lakemont suit needs a mediator," "It's time for cameras in the courtroom."
-- Patrick Waksmunski snagged first-place honors in the sports action photo category for "One more needed."
-- Nick Anna won first place for feature page design for his work on the Mini Mirror page. In
addition, Anna received first place for graphic/photo illustration for "Hawk's Eye View" and second place for graphic/photo illustration for the Mini Mirror page: "Bats are 'fangtastic' creatures."
-- Neil Rudel won second place in sports/outdoor columns for his Penn State coach columns.
-- Cynthia Wise won second place for news page design, with her entry showcasing pages with the following headlines: "Rising from ruins," "Spinning their wheels," "I can't believe we did it," "Climb every mountain," "Still making the cut" and "Small business, big impact."
Wise also received second place for her photo story/essay "A hero's welcome" and two honorable mention awards, one for a photo story/essay "You're a green one" and a second for a feature photo entitled "Veterans Day welcome."
-- Claycomb won second place in the feature story category for a story titled: "Alfie Wise - Altoona grad who appeared in Reynolds movies dies at 81."
Claycomb also received an honorable mention for a breaking news photo, "A total loss."
-- Matt Churella received an honorable mention for a business/consumer story for his article "A shadow of itself," which focused on the status of the Logan Valley Mall.
Plaques and certificates are slated to be presented in October during an awards luncheon in Harrisburg.
Additional awards
Altoona Mirror staffers have won honors in other journalism contests this year.
In May, the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania headquartered in Pittsburgh presented Churella with a Golden Quill Award for his business/technology/consumer story titled "Under the stars: Area drive-ins continue to provide fun night out for the whole family."
Churella was a Quill finalist in two other categories: arts/entertainment for a story titled "Making more than music," and the lifestyle category for a story titled "Octogenarian biker still loving life on the open road."
The Press Club also presented a Golden Quill Award to staff writer Colette Costlow for her lifestyle story titled: "Taking a dip: 'Forest Bathing' at Canoe Creek connects visitors to nature."
Other Mirror staffers named as Quill finalists were:
-- Anna, news or feature illustration for "Mini Mirror - Tackling the subject of football" and page design, for "Mini Mirror - Bats are 'fangtastic' creatures."
-- Claycomb, feature photo, "A little help from my friends"; science/environment, "Sweet pickings"; history/culture, "I don't want them to forget - circus train wreck"; arts/entertainment, "Alfie Wise - Altoona grad who appeared in Reynolds movies."
-- Rachel Foor-Musselman, business/technology/consumer story, "Scrambled: Local bakeries struggle with rising cost of eggs."
-- Kibler, science/environment story, "Bee swarm generates quite a buzz"; enterprise/investigative, "Union, VA medical center at odds."
-- Boytim, lifestyle story, "Hawk's eye view"; columns/blogs, "Boytim columns."
-- Mirror staff, enterprise/investigative, "COVID-19 - 5 years later."
In September, the National Federation of Press Women will present Stephens with two awards for her entries in its annual communications contest offered to members and their state affiliates.
In that contest, Stephens won second place for a single editorial titled: "Public notices must remain accessible." She also won second place in the news story (print-based newspaper) category for an entry titled "Trying times: COVID-19 forced courts to get creative."