Humber Et Cetera won a Gold Crown for hybrid news from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association based at New York City's Columbia University.
This award commemorates publications that have daily online coverage and newspaper editions. The Indiana Daily Student at Indiana University and The Ithacan at Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y., also won Gold Crowns in the category.
Santiago Helou Quintero, the editor-in-chief of Humber Et Cetera 2023-2024, said the award validates the hard work and that they knew the paper was exceptional.
“It's super validating, to be honest, I think while we were working on the paper, we knew how special it was in the moment. Every edition just felt incredible to put together,” he said.
“We were so proud of the stories that our reporters were putting together. Our reporters were writing great stuff,” Quintero said.
He said he shared the award with Isabelle Ferrante.
“I couldn’t have done it without Isabelle's amazing work. She did so much behind the scenes to put the paper together,” Quintero said.
“This award is just as much hers as it is mine,” He said.
When it came to print, Ferrante and Quintero would be co-editor-in-chief.
Ferrante said it was fun working with Santiago and that they worked well together.
“I helped out with more layout stuff, so I was co-EIC whenever we would start layout, that's when I would get help,” Ferrante said
Quintero was the editor-in-chief for the first half of the 2023-2024 school year. Zoe Pierson took over duties in the winter term.
He would follow the newspaper while it was in the hands of Pierson.
Quintero said Canadians live in a historical moment and that the next generation of journalists has the responsibility of keeping the public informed.
“We know that we're living through a historical moment, and it's going to be on us a lot to keep the public informed about things,” he said.
“It’s our responsibility to cover those stories that no one else is going to be covering, it's just so important for us to learn how to do that,” Quintero said.
