Distraction Magazine has won a Crown Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association at Columbia University. The Crown Awards honor top student publications, which are judged on their design, photography, concept, coverage, and writing.  All of the publications are acknowledged as Silver Crowns, except for a select few which will be announced as Gold Crowns at the ceremony in New York City in March of 2016. Only 12 college printed magazines have been recognized as a Crown Finalist this year. 

This is the second time that Distraction’s printed edition has won a Crown Award, the first being in 2012 when it received a Gold Crown. The magazine also won Gold Crowns in 2014 and 2015 for its hybrid edition, a combination of both print and online.

“This is super news for the Distraction staff and I am very proud of them,” said Randy Stano, Distraction editorial advisor. “This shows that their hard work is paying off, not only with the readers, but also with the professional judges that review the publications for CSPA.”

Editor-in-Chief Rori Kotch and Executive Editor Lexi Williams will be accepting the awards in March of 2016. Kotch and Williams, both seniors, were also the editor-in-chief and executive editor last year.

“It’s unique that the editor-in-chief and executive editor actually get to accept their awards because it’s usually the successor,” Kotch said.

“Because this award is for last school year’s work, but we were in the same position last year, so we get to be recognized for the hard work that we did,” Williams added.

While the award recognizes the magazine’s work of the past, the editors see the award as beneficial for the magazine’s future.

“It means that we’re getting a lot better and we’re constantly improving,” Kotch said.

“I think it’s going to get our staff motivated to go for it again this year,” said Williams.

The covers of the award-winning issues are shown in the photo above. To learn more about Distraction Magazine, visit http://www.distractionmagazine.com/.