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Alum Wins First Place Journalism Award

By Caroline Ryan

Editor-in-Chief

Moa Golster, a 2016 journalism graduate and former online editor of the Pioneer, won a first place award in the student narrative feature category at the 2017 Press Club of Long Island Media Awards dinner. The award, presented on June 7 at the Woodbury Country Club in Oyster Bay was for Golster’s article “Billy Joel Gives Back,”  published by the Pioneer on February 10, 2016.

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Photo by Caroline Ryan -First place journalism award given to 2016 graduate, Moa Golster.

The Press Club of Long Island is one of the largest professional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. The annual PCLI awards honor professional and student journalists from across Long Island. LIU Post was one of the few universities recognized at the event. “It is such an honor for the press club to present awards to the top journalists on Long island each year,” PCLI President Chris R. Vaccaro said.

“I am very honored. This came unexpectedly since I have had time to graduate, move back to my native Sweden and start working,” Golster said. “It is a wonderful reminder of the many things I learned from my professors back at LIU Post – three years that obviously paid off. It’s also a nice reminder of a day that I will always remember, the day I got to interview Billy Joel!” she added.

Golster interviewed Joel when he visited the Tilles Center in Feb. 2016. Joel pledged $1 million from his foundation to the Long Island High School for the Arts.

Currently Golster, is working for a morning show in Sweden called Aftonbladet Morgon. Golster is in charge of putting together scripts, she also researches the guests and books everyone from politicians, experts and celebrities to appear on the show.

The Pioneer has won PCLI awards for several consecutive years. Last year, the Pioneer won in the Best College Newspaper, Narrative News Story/Student, Narrative Feature Story/Student, and Narrative Sports Story/Student categories. “From our hall of fame inductions to giving out prestigious awards to deserving professionals and students, this is the highlight of our year, and we congratulate all the winners. We hope that the awards competition helps to make the journalism on Long Island even stronger,” PCLI President Vaccaro said.

Earlier this spring, the Pioneer won two Region 1 Mark of Excellence Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. Maxime Devillaz was a finalist in the Breaking News category and Harry Pearse was a finalist in the General Column Writing category.

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