Student-run website named nation's best

PhiladelphiaNeighborhoods.com wins prestigious EPPY Award for Best College/University Newspaper Website.

Student-journalists using computers in the Philadelphia Neighborhoods newsroom.

Neil Ortiz

Student-journalists for Philadelphia Neighborhoods gain hands-on experience in community reporting.

PhiladephiaNeighborhoods.com, a student-run publication produced by the Multimedia Urban Reporting Lab at Temple, won the 2015 Editor & Publisher EPPY Award for Best College/University Newspaper Website. The site edged out the competition—which included websites produced by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. This year is the fourth consecutive year that Temple student-journalists have won an EPPY.

Philadelphia Neighborhoods is dedicated to telling stories that represent the diverse voices in the undercovered and underserved neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Student-journalist Holli Stephens, Class of 2016, was excited to have her work recognized on a national level.

“I look back every week at the stories that we do at PhiladelphiaNeighborhoods.com and realize that it is so great that we are representing Philly,” said Stephens.

Neil Ortiz, director of multimedia content in the Department of Journalism, couldn’t be happier for the students’ win, but is especially proud of the way students and faculty collaborate to bring the website to life. “I’m very proud of the students—it’s pretty cool to see them come up with ideas,” he said. “It’s almost like we’re a sports team like Temple football. They design the plays and we, as faculty, are the coaches.”

Two other student-produced Temple publications were finalists for the award: The official website of the School of Media and Communication’s Study Away program in South Africa and The Temple Times.