ROB TAYLOR JR.
Awards presented, Oct. 16, in Harrisburg
The New Pittsburgh Courier’s editorial team won six first-place awards and two second-place awards at the Pennsylvania Newsmedia Association’s annual Keystone Media Awards.
The awards were presented, Oct. 16, 2025, at the Sheraton Hotel in Harrisburg, Pa.
Each year, the Pennsylvania Newsmedia Association awards publications across the state for their excellence in reporting, photography, videography and audio. The Courier competed against weekly publications across the entire state with a circulation of 5,000 or greater. All awards were distributed for entries that occurred in the year 2024.
In that division, Division V (five), the publication “The Burg” (Harrisburg) led the way with 11 first place awards and three second-place awards. The Courier’s six first-place awards were the second-most in Division V, with the Bucks County Herald (Doylestown, Pa.) and Mountain Home (Wellsboro, Pa.) each winning three first-place awards. The Almanac (McMurray, Pa.) and Town and Country (Pennsburg, Pa.) each won two first-place awards.
The Courier’s Briana L. White and Ryan McCullough won first-place for “Best Feature Video,” for a nine-minute video recap of the 2024 Pittsburgh Soul Food Festival.
White served as the solo host of the video, interviewing a plethora of event vendors and attendees, while McCullough produced the video.
The Courier’s Brian Cook Sr. won first-place for “Best Sports Action Photo,” for his photo of former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens catching an improbable touchdown in the 2024 season.
The Courier’s Ricco J.L. Martello won first-place for “Best News Event Photo,” for his photo of the aunt and uncle of the late Jim Rogers during an event at the Community Empowerment Association in March 2024. Rogers died following an altercation with Pittsburgh Police in 2021.
Courier graphic designer Warren King won second-place for “Best News Page Design,” for his front-page and overall newspaper designs for the Oct. 9 and Oct. 16 Courier print editions. Those editions featured coverage of the leadup to the presidential election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Courier managing editor Rob Taylor Jr. and McCullough won first-place awards for “Best Sports Video” and “Best News Video.” Taylor interviewed and filmed attendees of the 2024 Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic, in Canton, Ohio, during Labor Day Weekend.
McCullough then produced the video. For “Best News Video,” Taylor interviewed Black Pittsburghers on who they voted for in the 2024 Presidential Election on Election Day, while McCullough produced the video.
Taylor won a first-place award for “Excellence in Reporting on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” for a series of stories written in 2024 related to DEI. Taylor won a second-place award for “Best Business Story,” for a 2024 story on Dollar Bank’s homeownership program.