The Current, the student newspaper at Eckerd College, has been named the best student publication in Florida, winning over newspapers at much bigger colleges and universities with established journalism programs.
Theonlinecurrent.com was also named best student website during the 20th Annual Sunshine State Awards, sponsored by the Florida Pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
The awards were presented on Aug. 16 during ceremonies at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens.
Besides those two awards, reporter Hailey Escobar won the best profile honor for her story, Students reflect on experiences with cancer, and Carver Elliot Lee won best opinion column for Here we go again: EC to DC, Keystone pipeline raises concerns.
“I’m very proud to see the staff’s hard work recognized with these awards, particularly from within a field of much larger schools and publications,” said K.C. Wolfe, assistant professor of creative writing and adviser to The Current. “This speaks to the diligence, talent and devotion of a relatively small but motivated staff and to the support they’ve found for their role within the Eckerd community.”
The Current and its website were both honored last year by the Society of Professional Journalists with 2012 Mark of Excellence Awards for Best College Newspaper and Best College Website for small schools in the Southeast.
The Current publishes bi-weekly during the academic year and is distributed free on campus.
