The 2024 Keystone Media Awards banquet, held Oct. 17 in Harrisburg, brought together many of the best and brightest journalism professionals from across the commonwealth. Industry leaders and journalists alike gathered to celebrate award-winning entries submitted in a variety of categories reflecting all facets of print and digital media. Some attendees were news media veterans with storied careers; others were young journalists being recognized for the first time. This is the story of two such recipients.
Jo Ciavaglia has been a force in crime and investigative reporting at the Bucks County Courier Times for over a dozen years. She has won more than 100 local, state and national journalism awards throughout her career and has been featured on television episodes of Dateline and Investigation Discovery. Her stories are impactful, including the arrest of an illegal daycare operator in Bucks County.
At this year’s Keystone Media Awards, Ciavaglia won the G. Richard Dew Award for Journalistic Service, Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association’s most prestigious honor for outstanding journalism. For the last five years, she has spearheaded an ongoing series titled “The Unclaimed.” Through investigative reporting and photo essays, Ciavaglia tells the stories of uncollected human remains at morgues in several Philadelphia-area counties.
Along with her late colleague, James McGinnis, she utilized the Right-to-Know Law to investigate how and why the remains went unclaimed for years and helped to track down relatives. In some instances, the deceased were military veterans who died homeless or in nursing homes. One of them, Leo, was a veteran Ciavaglia met and interviewed for a 2010 story on homelessness. Through her work, Ciavaglia gave the forgotten dead the dignity of a proper burials, which in some cases were military ceremonies. “My work is important because it has real impact on the community,” she said.
Jo Ciavaglia, after receiving the Richard G. Dew award for Journalistic Service.
L-R, Sharon Sorg, publisher Sharon Herald, Joey Garcia.
While veteran journalist Ciavaglia was celebrated at the banquet, a young staffer at the Sharon Herald named Joey Garcia was also on hand to receive his first awards.
Garcia started at the Herald two years ago with no formal newspaper or journalism training. While studying business administration at Laurel Technical Institute, he was on the lookout for an internship opportunity. One day while picking up lunch near the Herald offices, Garcia decided to stop in and ask about a possible internship. “I went out for Chinese,” he said, “but God pushed me into a career instead.”
His instincts proved right. and kismet set in. Garcia first encountered Publisher Sharon Sorg, who happened to be seated at the front desk. Garcia, with an extensive Instagram portfolio of his artwork, inquired about opportunities that might be a good fit for him. Sorg directed him to the second-floor offices of Editor Eric Poole. Although no position existed at the time, the conversation, as well as the art portfolio, left an indelible mark on Poole. When a position opened in the editorial department a few weeks later, Garcia was hired.
Assigned to news page design, Garcia lays out the pages for lifestyle, comics and opinion sections. For his front-page design work, he follows the initial layout formula but is given leeway to design the page with his own distinctive flair, to draw readers’ attention to the featured stories of the day.
His work was entered in the 2024 Keystone Media Awards for top news page design. At 22, he won first place for his six submissions, as well as second place for his six feature page design entries. It was a joyous occasion at the banquet, as Garcia shared the moment with his grandparents, father and a dear friend.
Garcia has branched out into writing as well with his weekly Saturday column, Two Cents. Writing has quickly become an even deeper passion and something he intends to pursue. Whatever he undertakes, he credits his strong faith in God for driving his decision-making process and has no intention of resting on his laurels. “I’m on a constant track” to be better,” he said. “You don’t grow when you’re comfortable.” He continued, “I’m flying by the seat of my pants. Everything that has happened to me, good and bad, leads me to believe in a greater intelligence out there that is intimately involved in his (God’s) creation.”
Ciavaglia and Garcia are from different generations: one is a seasoned, consummate professional and the other is an up-and-coming talent from out of the blue. They both prove that the state of journalism in Pennsylvania will not only continue to flourish but provide communities with the positive impact only local journalism can deliver.