Columbia Scholastic Press Association announced on Monday that the combined print and online edition of the Harvard-Westlake Chronicle was named as a finalist for the 2013 Crown Awards.

A combined total of 1,344 publications including yearbooks, newspapers, magazine and digital editions entered to win in CSPA’s competition, and in the hybrid category 16 publications including the Chronicle and its website were chosen as finalists.

They were judged at Columbia University from Dec. 8 through Dec. 10 as a hybrid, a new category for publications that tries to integrate their print and digital publications in CSPA’s competition.

This new category was created “as a response to publications moving from print to pixels.”

While the publications will be awarded either a Silver or Gold Crown at the CSPA’s 89th Annual Convention in March, the decisions have already been made.
On Nov. 17, student publications scored a winning sweep in the Best of Show competitions at the National Scholastic Press Association/Journalism Education Association fall convention in San Antonio.

Chronicle and Spectrum both took first place, the former in the online category and the latter in the middle school newspapers category.

The November issue of The Chronicle won second place as a big newspaper, and Big Red sports magazine’s homecoming issue placed in fourth.

Vox Populi won seventh for yearbooks in its respective size category, and while last year’s Chronicle did not win a National Pacemaker, it was honored as a finalist.

Twelve students who work on the yearbook, the newspaper, the website and the sports magazine attended the three-day conference, accompanied by Advancement Officer Ed Hu, yearbook adviser Jen Bladen and Spectrum adviser Steve Chae.