34th Street Magazine, the arts and culture publication of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc., earned four honors at the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2025 Mark of Excellence Awards, including a national first-place win in Cultural Criticism.
Style writer Kate Cho took home the national award for Cultural Criticism for a body of columns spanning music, fashion, and film — including a meditation on Frankenstein and couture’s relationship with Catholicism and humanity; a piece on Lou Reed’s death and the legacy of the Velvet Underground; and an analysis of New York Fashion Week’s Men’s Day and the resurgence of Ivy League tailoring. Cho competed against regional winners from across SPJ’s 12 regions to claim the national title.
“We are so proud of Kate for her incredible coverage of music, fashion, film and everything in between,” Street Editor-in-Chief Nishanth Bhargava wrote in a statement. “Kate is a fantastic writer and thinker, and we’re honored to have been able to present her writing.”
At the regional level, Street was named the Region 1 winner for Best Ongoing Student Magazine, which recognizes sustained excellence in student magazine journalism across the Northeast. Street also earned a Region 1 finalist distinction for illustration, with Kate Hiewon Ahn recognized for her piece, “Selling souls or selling records?”
“34th Street is honored to win SPJ’s Best Ongoing Student Magazine award for our outstanding culture coverage, and in-depth features and reporting,” Bhargava wrote. “Street is committed to continuing to put out high-quality content that grapples with the issues impacting Philadelphia most.”
Region 1 of the SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards covers student journalists across northeastern United States, including schools in New York, New England, and Pennsylvania. Regional first-place winners advance to a national round of judging.
The Mark of Excellence Awards are judged by professional journalists with a minimum of three years of industry experience, and entries are evaluated against the standard of the best in student journalism.
Jasmine Ni is the Executive Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. and can be reached at ni@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies English and political science. Follow her on X @JasmineNi_.
