OP_062019

6 | June 20, 2019 | the orland Park Prairie news
OPPrairie.com
Editorials, sports reporting among 22CM’s 16 national awards
The Prairie to be
honored at Oct. 5
ceremony
Staff Report
From an “inspirational”
obituary to “engaging”
breaking news to a “haunting”
and “exceptional” investigation,
22nd Century
Media publications earned
a company-record 16
awards for journalistic excellence
from the National
Newspaper Association.
It is the seventh year
of national competition
for 22nd Century Media,
parent company of The
Orland Park Prairie, and
the 16 awards top the company’s
previous high of 14
(2015).
The National Newspaper
Association boasts
more than 2,000 members,
and this year its annual
Better Newspaper
Contest welcomed more
than 1,300 entries from
36 states. Winners in the
competition, judged by
esteemed journalists from
across the country, will be
honored at an Oct. 5 banquet
in Milwaukee.
“I am blown away,” said
Joe Coughlin, the company’s
publisher. “Our editorial
team works tirelessly
to produce quality community
journalism that informs
and equips our readers.
The work is for the
community, but accolades
of this magnitude help validate
those efforts.”
Of the 16 awards won
by 22nd Century Media,
two were first-place and
seven were second-place
honors. 22CM also earned
three third-place nods, and
four were honorable mentions.
The Homer Horizon, the
first newspaper launched
by 22nd Century Media,
earned both first-place
awards — one for a feature
written by Editor Tom Czaja
and the other for an investigative
piece produced
by a team of reporters.
Four of the honors went
to The Orland Park Prairie,
which was recognized
for two editorials by Managing
Editor Bill Jones,
a sports column by Jeff
Vorva and an obituary tribute
by reporter Meredith
Dobes.
Regarding Vorva’s
second-place Best Sports
Column entry, “Plenty of
heroes,” judges said “Jeff
gets brownie points here
for a piece that gets extra
power from its efficient
language.” They also
And the winners are ...
List and details of the 16 national award-winners for 22nd Century Media
called Dobes’ tribute to a
late Montford Point Marine
“an honestly inspirational
obituary.”
Jones earned secondplace
for Best Editorial
with a column about the
importance of voting, with
judges calling it a “creative
twist to the same
old, same old get out and
vote opine.” He took an
honorable mention for a
column about the student
walkouts, with judges saying
it was “well written
with several good points”
but that it “could have
been said in fewer words.”
Jones disagrees.
“I would have done so
‘respectfully,’ but I feared
that might be too wordy,”
he wrote.
Jones also contributed to
the second-place recognition
the Malibu Surfside
News received for its coverage
of the devastating
Woolsey Fire. Vorva also
picked up a second place
for Best Review in The
Tinley Junction for his take
on the Marilyn Manson/
Rob Zombie show at the
Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre,
as well as an
honorable mention in that
paper for Best Sports Feature
Story or Series an entry
called “No white flag.”
Other awards southwest
suburban awards were
won by: The Lockport Legend
(sports story by Editor
Max Lapthorne) and The
Frankfort Station (sports
photo by Julie McMann).
“The variety of work
that was recognized is
particularly impressive to
me,” Publisher Joe Coughlin
said. “These are the
best reporters in Chicago’s
suburbs, and they keep
proving it.”
Paper Category Author(s) Description of work
The Homer Horizon Investigative Max Lapthorne, Report from a four-month investigation on a former Lockport Township High School
Story
Tom Czaja, Joe Coughlin student who said she was sexually abused by her teacher
The Homer Horizon Feature Story Tom Czaja Exploratory profile of a religious icon that appears as if it is crying
Malibu Surfside News Breaking News Lauren Coughlin, In-depth coverage of a disastrous and deadly wildfire
Joe Coughlin, Bill Jones,
Barbara Burke
Malibu Surfside News Sports Story Chris Megginson Recap of Olympic bobsledder Lauren Gibbs’ silver-medal performance at the 2018
Winter Olympics
Malibu Surfside News Feature Story Lauren Coughlin In-depth look at the disappearance and search for Elaine Park, one year after she
went missing
The Orland Park Prairie Sports Column Jeff Vorva
Local angle on a historic high school football win by Brother Rice
The Orland Park Prairie Editorial Bill Jones 1. A rallying cry to push voters to the polls, and 2. How some missed the point of a
student walkout
The Orland Park Prairie Obituary Meredith Dobes Honoring the life of a local Congressional Medal of Honor recipient
Tribute
The Tinley Junction Review Jeff Vorva Recap of a head-banging show by Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson
The Tinley Junction Sports Feature Jeff Vorva Story of a senior resident running a race just months after a heart attack
The Northbrook Tower Education/ Martin Carlino The stories of a high school’s walkout and a district’s handling of the walkouts
Literacy Story
The Northbrook Tower Sports Feature Martin Carlino Profile of pitcher Michael Oh, who after two surgeries was back on the mound
The Northbrook Tower Sports Story Michal Dwojak Looking at the career and influence of Hall-of-Fame basketball coach David Weber
The Lockport Legend Sports Story Max Lapthorne Report on a youth baseball team’s blow-torch- and triple-play-aided victory
The Frankfort Station Sports Photo Julie McMann Cover photo of a leaping, horizontal touchdown catch by football star AJ Henning
Success story:
The Orland
Park Prairie
to stay free
Staff Report
Thanks to the thousands
of Orland Park residents
who returned request forms,
The Orland Park Prairie
will remain free of charge.
Because of these diligent
residents, The Prairie
maintained its second-class
mail status from the United
States Postal Service. One
of the requirements of the
USPS to retain secondclass
mail status is that every
three years more than
half of the homes in town
submit a card requesting
the publication.
The Prairie’s qualification
for this vaunted status
means that Orland Park
residents will receive their
Prairie on a timely basis
and that the postal costs
for The Prairie have been
greatly reduced, thereby allowing
the paper to remain
free.
If you are a resident who
has not returned a request
form and do not want to
rely on the good graces of
your neighbors or have had
the delivery of your paper
discontinued, you can visit
OPPrairie.com/delivery
and fill out the form in seconds.
If you are unsure about
whether you returned your
card, contact our circulation
department at (708)
326-9170.
Thank you again for the
excellent participation in
our program to keep The
Prairie free. Even more
good news is that we will
not have to ask you for help
again until 2022, when the
USPS will ask us to repeat
the process.