SJC Wins Folio for Hurricane Sandy Relief Social Media Campaign

May 02, 2013

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. May 3, 2013 The Fair Media Council, an organization that recognizes and monitors the quality of local news coverage, has honored St. Josephs College (SJC) with a Folio Award for its SJCNY Hurricane Sandy Relief Social Media Campaign at its 2013 awards luncheon on Friday, April 19 at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, NY.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, SJC took to social media to keep its constituents informed about closings and cancellations, relief efforts, fundraising initiatives and other relevant post-storm related news. Within two weeks of the storm, the College increased the "likes on its Facebook page by almost 600. In addition, the College used social media to promote the SJC Hurricane Sandy Student Relief Fund, which was created to ensure that no student would have to forfeit their education due to the hurricane. To date, the Fund has raised approximately $265,000.

"When events such as Hurricane Sandy happen, the public receives a clearer understanding of the terrific and brave work done by our local media, said Jaci Clement, executive director of the Fair Media Council. "The Folio Awards continue to signify the highest of honors in news and social media, because it is the public who judges the work for its community relevance.

The 2013 Folio Awards were co-hosted by WCBS Newsradio 880s anchor team, Wayne Cabot and Steve Scott, and keynoted by Newsday and AM New York Columnist and Political Analyst on the Fox News Channel Ellis Henican. The awards were presented to winners by a variety of regional television, radio, business and government personalities.

Honoring excellence in local news coverage, the award-winning submissions for the Folio Awards are judged by community leaders who live and work in the metropolitan area. Awards are presented for stories that impact the local community in a variety of radio, television, print, online and social media categories. This year, a total of 44 awards, chosen from hundreds of entries, were presented.

In 2010, SJC won the New Media Innovator Award: Best First Time Use of Social Media for its submission: The SJCNY Approach to Social Media, a social networking campaign that was introduced in July 2009 with the creation of accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.