The Streetlight, published by TCNJ Bonner students with and for people experiencing homelessness in and around Trenton, won first place for Local News in the 2019 NJ News Commons Excellence Awards.
“Community engagement was at the core of Streetlight reporting in 2018, from profiles about local soup kitchens and community organizations to interviews with residents who have experienced homelessness to an investigation into severe weather closings at the Trenton Free Public Library,” according to the Center for Cooperative Media announcement.
“They also held editorial review board meetings, where representatives from local organizations such as the Trenton area soup kitchen and the mercer alliance to end homelessness reviewed our articles and collaborated with their newsroom to suggest future story ideas. One such story focused on a father and son who reunited at the rescue mission of Trenton after 24 years, a story that came from discussions with community partners and local residents.”
The Streetlight also was runner-up for the Partner of the Year Award. The citation read: “The Streetlight is the only media outlet of its kind in the state: a free newspaper and resource guide that is published by college students for and with people experiencing homelessness. In 2018, The Streetlight completed a rebranding of the publication from The Wall to The Streetlight, launched a new website, assisted with the creation of the NJ College News Commons, attended multiple collaborative reporting events, and published myriad articles in partnership with Mercer County organizations and classes at TCNJ and Montclair State University.”
The current staff of The Streetlight are all Bonner Community Scholars :
Annette Espinoza, Editor-in-Chief
Jared Kofsky, Managing Editor
McKenna Samson, Editor
Joshua Trifari, Editor
Hannah Keyes, Editor
Raj Manimaran, CEL Coordinator
Teressa Price, Program Coordinator