Events

Plan to join us at the Student Keystone Media Awards Event as we celebrate and recognize the best of student journalism in Pennsylvania, by presenting the 2026 Student Keystone Media Award winners.

This Awards Luncheon Event will be held on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, at the Best Western Premier The Central Hotel & Conference Center, 800 E. Park Drive, Harrisburg, PA 17111.

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UPDATE: Rather than holding a “scavenger hunt for the truth” at this event, students will be asked to use this opportunity – and the information they’ll learn in the training session – to put their skills to use.  Students are requested to write an article or story they’d publish in their newspaper and/or news site covering the event, including information they learned, things they observed, etc. The story should be no more than 300 words and must be emailed to teresas@pa-news.org by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 17. 

All submissions will be reviewed by a panel of judges.  The student submitting the best overall coverage will win an iPad, provided the PNA Foundation. No purchase necessary. The winning article will also be showcased on the PNA website and shared in our weekly e-newsletter, Headlines & Deadlines, which is delivered to news media outlets across Pennsylvania.  Winner will be announced by the end of April. 

Reporters’ notebooks and these details will also be shared at registration upon your arrival, but you may want to share this information with your attending students and get them ready to put their journalism skills to use during the event!

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Event schedule:

• As you arrive, visit the small News Media College Fair tables, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
• A training session will run from 10-10:30 a.m., followed by “ask me anything” segments with each of the five panelists through 11:45 a.m. which highlights the skills needed to succeed in journalism.  Panelists include:
  • Teresa Bonner, senior director of content, PennLive/The Patriot-News, Harrisburg
  • Marta Gouger, editor, The Times News, Lehighton
  • Larry Holeva, executive editor, The Times-Tribune, Scranton
  • Marea Ann Mannion, professor, Penn State University
  • Tom Murse, executive editor, LNP/Lancaster Online
• For those interested, an advisers’ on-your-own roundtable discussion will run from 10-11:45 a.m. concurrently with the student session.
• Networking buffet luncheon begins at noon in the ballroom, followed by the awards presentation.  There is no assigned seating. You will remain seated at the table rounds for the luncheon and awards presentation.
• Expected end time by 2 p.m.
  • Certificates for non-attending students will be available for pick up at the conclusion of the awards presentation. Any certificates not picked up at the event will be mailed after the event.
  • As you leave the event, be sure all students get a backpack filled with information and items donated from various Pennsylvania colleges and universities.

The PNA Foundation covers the cost of the event for all Student Keystone Winners. A registration fee for any guests (advisers, school officials, family, friends, etc.) will be charged. PRE-REGISTRATION is required for ALL attendees. Pre-registration will ensure that the student winners will have their awards available at the event, and their names called during the presentation.

The PNA Foundation will supply plaques to each first-place winner and certificates to each second place and honorable mention winner in attendance at the Student Keystone Media Awards Luncheon. Certificates for non-attendees will be available for pick up at the conclusion of the presentation.

If you have any questions about this event, email the PNA Foundation.