Celebrating

Excellence Awards
6
PAST PRESIDENTS’ AWARD
D I V I S I O N 1
FIRST PLACE
The Sag Harbor Express, Sag Harbor
Was surprised by the width of this publication, but I
like it. A throwback to days gone by. At first glance,
I thought this is a newspaper I could enjoy spending
time reading. The news writing is engaging, the
variety of content interesting. The Opinion page is
well balanced, well designed and interesting to read.
And this paper just keeps going… excellent features.
Great job. I want this newspaper delivered to my
doorstep.
SECOND PLACE
Adirondack Daily Enterprise,
Saranac Lake
Nice looking front page layouts with articles built
around good photos, nice use of pull quotes, nice
headline font choices. In addition to looking good,
the reporting and writing is solid. The story choices
on the front are varied and interesting. Good feature
section layouts and articles. Clean effective ads.
Excellent calendar of events and religious news.
A broad mix of interests covered. This is a
newspaper I’d look forward to receiving on
my doorstep.
THIRD PLACE
Mid Hudson Times, Newburgh
Nice looking tabloid format. Good use of photos.
Reporting and writing is solid. Clean, interesting
Opinion page. Good coverage of the arts. Nice,
clean ads. Overall a newspaper that serves its
community well.
HONORABLE MENTION
Williston Times, Williston Park
Nice variety of layouts and good use of photos.
Solid reporting. Good editorials on the Opinion
page, lots of readers’ letters, nice arts section and
coverage. Love the Election 2015 coverage. The
layout on The Island Today, Nov. 6, was the most
innovative of all the entries, great job. Display ads
are well done. Nice looking classifieds section.
All in all, a community newspaper done right.
D I V I S I O N 2
FIRST PLACE
The Suffolk Times, Mattituck
Lots of letters and best letters policy I have ever seen.
Great covers, great sports photos, strong headlines
— strong pages throughout. Solid coverage —
excellent job!
SECOND PLACE
The Southampton Press-Eastern Edition,
Southampton
STRONG cover art. Teasers are effective.
Excellent news coverage, from house fire to
development issue, police news. Headlines are
effective, with and without the kicker heads
beneath; good writing! Front page has excellent
headlines on every story. Nice, crisp B&W news
photos - great reproduction. Great arts coverage,
followed a few pages later by in-depth report on
ticks... even the upper crust has pests, it seems.
SPORTS more good coverage, from team sports to
fishing. Lots of space devoted to real-estate related
story topics, to supplement so many real estate ads.
If I’m a buyer in your area, I need to go through your
paper. Great reproduction, tons of content, wellwritten
headlines, wonderful ads: Keep up the
great work!
THIRD PLACE
Shelter Island Reporter, Shelter Island
Nice, clean masthead tells me just what I need to
know. Index at bottom of page is clean, accessible.
By the Numbers. Love this idea! Oh Deer, it’s a cute
idea. Police blotter: Lots of detail, and you have a
good disclaimer about why you are naming names.
OPINION: Excellent, detailed letters policy. Good
display of editorial, columnists, cartoon, letters.
Letters headlines are a fine size. TUNING UP: I like
the display of musical events, classy! What’s
Happening: you give these small event notices larger
typeface than do we. What’s this, duplicate bridge
results? Good for you to print these - that’s
understanding your readership. Photo quality: Good,
with mostly great color reproduction. Strong
coverage of local news - neighbor vs neighbor? Real
Estate Transfers: Readership is worth whatever effort
this takes to assemble. A strong paper that obviously
knows the neighborhood, young to old. Great job!
HONORABLE MENTION
The News-Review, Riverhead, Mattituck
Nice ‘gold standard’ cover. Good news coverage and
story placement. Headline writing is a cut above…
Town Hall Notes — a handy way to present the
news with photos. Calendar page is effective.
Real estate transfers — readership is worth whatever
effort it takes to collect & present. Sports pages have
strong art. A great product in a competitive
category; headlines are especially strong.
Keep up the great work!
D I V I S I O N 3
FIRST PLACE
The Riverdale Press, Bronx
Strong front page in terms of news, with engaging
headlines. INSIDE box on page 2 is the best we’ve
seen in the 50 or so Gen X papers we’ve judged
from NYPA - complete “how to” guide! Great to
have an editorial linked to your front page news
story. LIVING Section photo spread on RiverFest
is a strong package. REAL ESTATE ads are
predictably strong, and so is your CLASSIFIED
section. Clear, easy to see terms and who to call.
Service Guide and Business Card Directory seem
complete; deadlines are clear. Your “What’s On”
calendar listing is great, with a nice mix of color
photos/art and big category names. We appreciate
your hard-news approach on the front page with
in-depth reporting on key issues, and strong,
focused feature content. Your editorials are strong,
direct and support news coverage. Community
engagement is also 100%.
SECOND PLACE
TimesLedger, Queens
Good mix of editorial, cartoon and letters; staff box
is effective; letters policy is clear and generous.
Nice photo pages with captions so we know who
they are! Your text jump page style is simple and
effective. The top-flight agency ads really sparkle;
so do what appear to be your staff-produced ads.
Love the “Mets” story package. Election preview is
helpful; the red/blue page bug is effective. Your
Museum, Theater, etc. section drew me in. Good
effort made to cover people in your local sports
scene. Many things to like about what you are
doing. Headlines are strong, writing has a news
focus. Good mix of ads, large and small, with efforts
made to service specific industries. Favoring your
front page design just a bit over your closest
competitions. Congratulations and keep up the
community connections.
THIRD PLACE
Queens Chronicle, Queens
Front page: only observation, could your teaser
headlines in the left column have more verbs?
Inside, headlines are effective. Sports Section is
tiny. Overall editorial content is heavy on hard
news, light on features (except for your movie
section in this issue). Lots of news about crime and
politics, which shows a solid understanding of your
readership. Your 37th Anniversary edition is full of
good stuff — everything I need to know about the
history of NYC. A strong representative of a
borough newspaper that understands the local
market. Your papers are packed with news - not a
lot of “white space” dedicated for design. Plenty of
ads, too. Absence of a true Sports section cost
judging points against strong competition in this
category. Good effort on the special sections
contained in these 3 issues. Congratulations!
“ROOKIE” REPORTER
OF THE YEAR
FIRST PLACE
Press-Republican, Plattsburgh
Cara Chapman
Crisp writing, drops you right into the story and
doesn’t let go. Shows ability beyond that of
“rookie” status.
SECOND PLACE
Albany Business Review, Albany
Chelsea Diana
It’s always easy to cover topics on business and
economy, but she does a good job of explaining
issues and trends.
THIRD PLACE
Niagara Gazette, Niagara
Philip Gambini
Again, a first-year reporter showing experience and
range in writing general news. Covers issues of
interest… topics that engage readers.
HONORABLE MENTION
The Village Times Herald, Setauket
Giselle Barkley
From bees to cats, she shows versatility and a knack
for making the reader care about her subjects.
WRITER OF THE YEAR
FIRST PLACE
The Valley News, Elizabethtown
Pete DeMola
Pete did a great job of investigative reporting on
most of the stories — best among the 57 entries.
He also did a fine job of storytelling and using vivid
words to help with images. He showed great depth
in many of the stories, too. All five stories are
strong, which was rare. Pete was easily the winner
of the Writer of the Year competition.
SECOND PLACE
Rochester Business Journal, Rochester
Velvet Spicer
Velvet writes stories with a lot of depth and from
interesting angles, such as “Tech Appeal “ and “Job
Hoppers.” Enjoyed “One to Watch” and “Price of
Deception,” too. One of only a few entries that had
five strong stories. Unlike many entries she gives a
story what it’s worth, and doesn’t overwrite.
THIRD PLACE
The Villager (NYC),New York
Lincoln Anderson
Lincoln writes some fascinating stories with a lot of
depth. He could have finished higher, but a couple of
the stories - “Spy Cam” and “Pit bull” - were
overwritten. But the thoroughness of the reporting and
organization of the writing were exemplary.
HONORABLE MENTION
Gay City News, New York
Paul Schindler
Smooth writing, like smooth jazz, is easy to take in.
Paul is a fine story-teller. Stabbing story was excellent, as
were three others. A stronger fifth story could have put
him in the top three.
SPORTS WRITER OF THE YEAR
FIRST PLACE
Port Times-Record,
Port Jefferson/Mt. Sinai
Desiree Keegan
I was impressed by Desiree Keegan’s versatility as a sports
writer and her ability to draw the reader into her stories
with creative, inviting and yet simple leads. Once you
started reading, you wanted to know more about the
subjects of her stories.
SECOND PLACE
The Scarsdale Inquirer, Scarsdale
Todd Sliss
I appreciated the breadth of Todd Sliss’ stories and his
versatility as a writer.
THIRD PLACE
Queens Chronicle, Queens
Christopher Barca
I feel I really got to know the subjects of Christopher
Barca’s stories and to appreciate their contributions to
the community.
HONORABLE MENTION
The Sag Harbor Express, Sag Harbor
Gavin Menu
The structure of the state basketball championship story
was unconventional but provided added depth and
layers to what could have been a routine story.
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
FIRST PLACE
The Rivertowns Enterprise,
Hastings-on-Hudson
Tim Lamorte
The judges said, “Tim’s work shows that he is more than
a proficient photographer; he’s a photojournalist, and he
should be proud to call himself this year’s Photographer
of the Year. The wide array of newsworthy subject matter
represented in his submissions, not to mention the
technical acumen consistently on display therein, hints
at his role as The Rivertowns Enterprise’s longtime
editor. He clearly made the right choice as a high school
senior when he took his fifth grade teacher’s advice to
pursue journalism. His photographs are sharp, wellexposed
and generally well-composed. More
importantly, they capture unique moments conveying
a range of human emotion. His work is this year’s
strongest embodiment of the term photojournalism,
where photographic proficiency meets the day-in and
day-out practice of real-world, community journalism.
SECOND PLACE
The Sag Harbor Express, Sag Harbor
Michael Heller
The judges said, “Michael’s submissions, especially their
technical consistency, are evidence of his long and
accomplished photography career.Many of his
photographs are visually stunning. It’s hard to find
much of anything to criticize about Michael’s
submissions, each of which are well-executed and show
forethought, the primary subject’s face is obstructed from
view, leaving the viewer looking for a human expression
to latch onto. Michael should consider himself a very
close second in the fight for this year’s Photographer of
the Year.”
THIRD PLACE
Norwood News, Bronx
Adi Talwar
Judges said, “Adi’s submissions show that he is willing to
seek out unique perspectives and is capable of producing
sharp, well-exposed photographs. His work appears to
rely on wider-angle lenses, which are often ideal in news
photography. When Adi gets close to his subjects, his
photographs are capable of grabbing the viewer with a
dominant subject while also conveying their
environment. His work clearly goes beyond solid
photography to tell the stories of and provide a window
into the communities he covers.At this rate, and with a
continued effort to make unique images, he stands to be
named Photographer of the Year in the very near future.
HONORABLE MENTION
The News-Review, Riverhead
Barbaraellen Koch
The judges said, “Barbaraellen is clearly a seasoned
community photojournalist consistently producing
sharp, quality images for Riverhead News-Review. Her
work deserves an honorable mention. Barbaraellen
excels at capturing people in peak action, in moments
that bring life to the stories her photographs
complement.”
BEST FRONT PAGE
D I V I S I O N 2
FIRST PLACE
Business First of Buffalo, Buffalo
Nancy Knight
Covers are all consistent and clean, and graphics are
pleasing. Nice use of fonts and typefaces, strong color…
yet subtle enough to get the points across without over
powering the reader. Superb!
SECOND PLACE
Albany Business Review, Albany
Melissa Mangini
Great use of typography, photos and fonts.
Simple and clean.
THIRD PLACE
Colonie-Loudonville Spotlight, Colonie
David Abbott and Michael Hallisey
Chic, sophisticated, urbane design – graphic elements are
bold but not harsh; typography is front and center;
impressive layout buoyed by white space and thoughtful
sizing. Really great stuff!
HONORABLE MENTION
The News-Review, Riverhead
Great design, but headlines are a little heavy on opinion
(Gassed Up and Ready to Blow). Excellent use of photos
and typography.
D I V I S I O N 3
FIRST PLACE
Hamodia, Brooklyn
Great use of photos. The sidebar works really well on each
page. A lot of information is used on the pages without
distracting the reader. The overall look is clean and
modern.
SECOND PLACE
Lewiston/Porter Sentinel, Lewiston
Marci Jordan
Clean organization, great use of photos that catch the eye
but don’t over stimulate the reader.
THIRD PLACE
Seaford Herald Citizen, Seaford
Andrew Hackmack
Great use of multiple photos on each page. Design is clean,
but creative. Page is organized in a way that draws the
reader’s eye.
HONORABLE MENTION
Gay City News, New York
Paul Schindler and Michael Shirey
Great use of images from design to photography. The covers
are clean without too much information distracting the
reader. Colors are nice and complimentary.
D I V I S I O N 5
FIRST PLACE
The Sag Harbor Express, Sag Harbor
Great job using a strong main photo to anchor the page.
Bold headlines are eye-grabbing. Some of the graphics and
small photos make the front page a little busy.
SECOND PLACE
Epoch Times, New York
Excellent photography, dominant photo with little else to
distract from it. “The Uber Effect” cover is outstanding.
THIRD PLACE
Lake Placid News, Lake Placid
Andy Flynn
My favorite front page was the “let’s twist” one. The
headline made me laugh and the dog photo is sweet.
HONORABLE MENTION
The Brooklyn Paper, Brooklyn
Leah Mitch
Love the clever headlines and strong photography. The
page is pretty busy; I would like to see some one or two
strong photos and fewer smaller photos.