Historic City News columnist wins national award

Hannah Bleau, a student at Flagler College and a Feature Articles contributor for Historic City News, has won national attention and an award from the Society of Professional Journalists for her work on a series of columns published in the Flagler College Gargoyle.

Not unlike the citizen journalist model employed by Historic City News, the Flagler College Gargoyle is an award winning, online-only, student-run news journal that made the environmentally intelligent decision to stop publishing on paper over a year ago.

Her 2013 Mark of Excellence Award in the Online Opinion and Commentary category, is not her only journalistic success lately. Hannah has been vying for a summer internship in Washington, DC and she learned last week that she has been selected.

“I’m D.C. bound this summer; interning at one of my favorite conservative media outlets, The Daily Caller,” Hannah told Historic City News. “I’m extremely excited, and mildly nervous.”

“We were fortunate for the referral when the college sent Hannah our way,” said Historic City News’ managing editor, Michael Gold; who is himself a Flagler graduate. “Hannah worked as an intern for Republican Congressman Ron DeSantis in his St Augustine office and she has a positive, conservative point-of-view. Her writing style is perfect for our audience.”

Sarah Williamson, Flagler Class of ’13, also took first place in the General News Photography category for her work on “Homeless, under 30 and invisible”. Williamson is a former Gargoyle editor who graduated in December with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication.

Altogether, Flagler students won 15 awards; including five first place finishes in the Society of Professional Journalists Region 3 — which includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

“The Gargoyle staff has done some incredible work this year,” said Brian Thompson, advisor to The Gargoyle. “I think it really speaks to the quality of students we have in our Communication department.”