Philadelphia Neighborhoods Wins Four Pacemakers

philadelphianeighborhoods.com won four Pacemaker awards, generally considered the Pulitzer Prizes of college journalism, including a first place for overall website.

Kriston Bethel and Tim Johnson collected two awards for the category of multimedia feature for a story about ATVs, which won second place, and a story about abandoned buildings, which won fourth. Bethel won second place for his audio slide show about a young man on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The results were announced Saturday at the Associated Collegiate Press convention in Chicago. Following are the awards:

Online-only website
First Place
Philadelphia Neighborhoods, Temple Univ., Philadelphia, Pa.
https://www.philadelphianeighborhoods.com
Christopher Harper and Linn Washington, editors

Multimedia Feature
Second Place
Kriston Bethel and Tim Johnson
Philadelphia Neighborhoods, Temple Univ., Philadelphia, Pa.
Hunting Park: ATVs and Dirt Bikes Flood City Streets
https://philadelphianeighborhoods.com/2012/04/03/hunting-park-atvs-and-dirt-bikes-flood-city-streets/

Fourth Place
Kriston Bethel and Tim Johnson
Philadelphia Neighborhoods, Temple Univ., Philadelphia, Pa.
Hunting Park: Abandoned buildings plague the neighborhood while city organizations work toward improvement
https://www.philadelphianeighborhoods.com/2012/04/30/hunting-park-abandoned-buildings-plague-residents-while-city-organizations-work-toward-improvement/

Audio Slidehow
Second Place
Kriston Bethel
Philadelphia Neighborhoods, Temple Univ., Philadelphia, Pa.
Hunting Park: Neighborhood Food Stamp Use Three Times the National Average; New Guidelines May Force Cuts
https://philadelphianeighborhoods.com/2012/04/26/hunting-park-food-stamp-use-three-times-higher-than-national-average-in-the-neighborhood-but-new-guidelines-may-cut-back/

Judge’s comments: Striking black-and-white images are the way into this affecting tale of Khalil Smith: 19, unemployed, living off food stamps and just one of the close to two million people enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The production skills are evident in the layering of interview material with background music, and it is impressive that creator Kriston Bethel composed the music.