HURRAH!: The Ithacan wins national awards....again and again and again....

Shown in photo from left: Online Media Editor Andy Swift, holding the Gold Crown; Assistant Design Editor Michelle Barrie; Assistant Photo Editor Allison Usavage, holding the Silver Crown; and Assistant News Editor Jackie Palochko.

This just in from Michael Serino, adviser to the Ithacan:

The Ithacan Online, the Ithacan’s Web site, has been awarded a 2009 Gold Crown Award for overall excellence by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. Crown Awards are the highest recognition given by the CSPA to a student print or online medium.

Following on the heels of the Ithacan’s third consecutive Online Pacemaker Award from the Associated Collegiate Press in November, CSPA’s newly created Online Crown Award solidifies The Ithacan Online’s standing as a leader in college multimedia journalism.

In addition, The Ithacan newspaper was awarded the organization’s Silver Crown Award for papers produced during the Spring 2008 semester.

The award was presented March 15 at the spring National College Media Convention in New York City. The CSPA has recognized excellence in journalism with Gold and Silver Crown Awards for student newspapers, magazines and yearbooks since the early 1980s. The award for online publications was added this year.

The Ithacan also is a finalist in the Northeast Region SPJ Mark of Excellence Award competition this year.

Erica Hendry's "Jazz Man," a profile of jazz professor Steve Brown, and Jen Nevins' roller derby story, "That's How They Roll," are finalists in the Feature Writing category as well.

Winners will be announced at the regional conference April 24–5 in Philadelphia.