Community Media NYC racked up 27 awards at the New York State Press Association’s 2011 Better Newspaper Contest, held in Saratoga Springs last weekend. Community Media finished in fourth place for the state’s group or chain newspapers with a total of 325 points.
Community Media Publisher and Editor John Sutter said, “It feels good of course to be recognized by our newspaper colleagues for doing good work. But the real satisfaction in this business comes from trying to write honestly, fairly, and independently every week about local issues that have meaning in the lives of our readers.”
The Downtown Express earned first place for spot news coverage of the NYPD’s overnight raid of Zuccotti Park, which ended Occupy Wall Street’s two-month-long encampment there, and second place for its editorials.
The N.Y.P.A. judges praised Downtown Express’s O.W.S. story, saying it was “Good work on an emotionally charged subject” and described its editorials as “well-written” and “clear.”
The paper’s editorial on the feared infiltration of tour buses following the opening of the National Sept. 11 Memorial, “takes a position on a local issue [and] calls for greater transparency and more input for area residents,” said the judges. The editorial on Occupy Wall Street, they said, “calls for support of Occupy while recommending that long-term logistical plans be made to facilitate protestors’ presence.”
Downtown Express’s editorial on the shortage of local public school seats was “another piece of good coverage of a local issue,” the judges said, and made a strong case that additional seats are needed.
Downtown Express’s sister papers, The Villager, Gay City News and Chelsea Now, took home the rest of the awards, including first place in photographic excellence for The Villager, first place in arts coverage for Chelsea now, and first place in best color ad created by a newspaper for Gay City News.
The Villager, which ranked fifth in total editorial contest points, also won first place for headline writing, first and third place for art photos by Bob Krasner and Milo Hess, first place for picture story, first and second place for spot news photos, first and third place for editorial cartoon, second place for best column by Jerry Tallmer, and third place for best editorial cartoon. The paper also received honorable mentions for its 9/11 special section and its coverage of health, health care and science, and won third place for best small-space advertising campaign.
Gay City News, which finished second overall for advertising awards, also ranked second place in graphic illustration and coverage of local government, third place in best editorial page, third place in headline writing, third place in arts coverage, first and second place in best large-space ads and first and second place in best small-space ads.
In addition to best arts coverage, Chelsea Now also won third place for coverage of the environment.
