INSIDE: COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS AND JUDGES COMMENTS Presented on February 8, 2020 Congratulations to the most outstanding newspapers in our six-state region! This year’s special award winners General Excellence Reporters of the Year Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, MA Erin Tiernan, The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA The Berkshire Eagle, Pittsfield, MA Rich Salzberger, The Martha’s Vineyard (MA) Times Seven Days, Burlington, VT Mount Desert Islander, Bar Harbor, ME Photojournalists of the Year VT Ski + Ride, Middlebury, VT Peter Pereira, The Standard-Times, New Bedford, MA David Sokol, GateHouse Media New England Rookies of the Year Alex Putterman, Hartford (CT) Courant Christopher Ross, Addison County Independent, VT NEW ENGLAND NEWSPAPER & PRESS ASSOCIATION 2 | P a g e NEW ENGLAND BETTER NEWSPAPER COMPETITION WINNERS, presented February 8, 2020 CONGRATULATIONS NEW ENGLAND BETTER NEWSPAPER COMPETITION AWARD WINNERS This year’s competition drew nearly 3,000 entries that were published during the contest year August 1, 2018 - July 31, 2019. The entries were evaluated by the New England Newspaper & Press Association’s distinguished panel of judges. The results of the competition listed here recognize the excellent revenue and audience building activities that are taking place throughout New England — the finalists and winners are listed, along with the judges’ comments. NENPA is proud to celebrate this truly extraordinary work! Entries were judged in five categories: Daily Newspapers with circulation up to 20,000 Weekly Newspapers with circulation up to 6,000 Daily Newspapers with circulation more than 20,000 Weekly Newspapers with circulation more than 6,000 Specialty and Niche Publications CONTENTS N EWS R EPORTING .................. 4 P AGES AND S ECTIONS , c on ti n ued D IGITAL P UBLISHING , c onti n ue d Arts and Entertainment Reporting Editorial/Commentary Page Best use of Social Media in Breaking News Business/Economic Reporting News Video Front Page Crime and Courts Reporting Entertainment Video Living Page or Section Education Reporting Feature Video Environmental Reporting Special Section or Supplement Sports Video General News Story Sports Section Spot News Video Government Reporting Special Sports Section Health Reporting P HOTOGRAPHY .................... 37 E DITORIAL ......................... 29 History Reporting Feature Photo Editorial Writing Human Interest Feature Story News Feature Photo Commentary Investigative Reporting General News Photo Editorial Cartoon Local Election Coverage Personality Photo Local Personality Profile C OLUMNS .......................... 30 Photo Illustration Obituaries Photo Series Humor Columnist Racial or Ethnic Issue Coverage Political Columnist Photo Story Reporting on Religious Issues Pictorial Photo Serious Columnist Science/Technology Reporting Portrait Photo Sports Columnist Social Issues Feature Story Sports Photo Sports Feature Story D ESIGN............................. 31 Spot News Photo Sports Story Illustration/Infographics Spot News Story S PECIAL R ECOGNITION .......... 43 Front Page Transportation Reporting Outstanding Newsletter Overall Design and Presentation Weather Coverage Best Niche Publication (Editorial) Audience/Community Involvement D IGITAL P UBLISHING ............ 34 Best Solutions Journalism Project Headline Writing Multimedia Coverage Excellence in Newsroom Collaboration Right-to-Know Website Interactivity and Engagement Innovator Award Best Podcast Digital Strategy Excellence P AGES AND S ECTIONS ........... 26 Best Infographic on Website Rookie of The Year Arts and Entertainment Section Best Overall Website Reporter of The Year Business Page or Section Best Overall Mobile Product Photojournalist of the Year Food Page or Section G ENERAL E XCELLENCE .......... 46 3 NEW ENGLAND BETTER NEWSPAPER COMPETITION AWARD WINNERS REPORTING Weekly Newspapers First Place: Becky Pritchard, Mount Desert Islander, Bar Harbor, ME In sketches, parking meters have their say- Good ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT REPORTING piece about how a creative painter uses talent to deal Daily Newspapers circulation 20,000+ with community controversy. It’s a catchy, light and very human story First Place: Rick Koster, The Day, New London, CT Surgical Soundtracks- Fascinatingly interesting, Second Place: Sally Pollak, Seven Days, Burlington, VT something not many know about, well written with At Bread and Puppet, an artful installation honors just the right touch of humor and whimsey. departed members, family and friends- A fascinating story about a unique and artistic way friends and Second Place: Bob Keyes, family are remembered. Portland Press Herald, Portland, ME With 3 generations of artwork challenging Americans Third Place: Bill Eville, this summer, Wyeths command a moment- A well- Vineyard Gazette, Edgartown, MA written piece that helps make the paintings come alive For Scott Frank Staying True to the Process Is the Only as the reader learns the stories behind them. Constant- Good story about a screenwriter and what went into his TV series, solid writing. Second Place: Victor Infante, Telegram & Gazette, Worcester, MA Worcester Artists eye changing scene with cautious optimism- Good comprehensive informative look at BUSINESS/ECONOMIC REPORTING the arts scene in the 'new' Worcester. Lots of sources, Daily Newspapers circulation 20,000+ lots of interesting stories. First Place: Mary Biekert, The Day, New London, CT Southeastern Connecticut is under the social media Third Place: Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll, influence- The rising power of social media influencers Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, MA is documented in this story that may define the 21st "Hightown" films in Ptown- Good behind-the-scenes century. That the story was written about New London story that is well-written, interesting and entertaining. makes it all the more relevant. It captures the ritual of creating and filming scenes for a new TV show. Second Place: Telegram & Gazette, Worcester, MA Remaking Worcester Neighborhoods- A Daily Newspapers circulation less than 20,000 comprehensive look at the changing nature of First Place: Dana Barbuto, The Worcester's neighborhoods as the city meets the Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA changing needs of its citizens. It is a document of a Tower of Power/Quincy Stuntman- Great story about moment in time. a stuntman and what he does and how he thinks, written in an entertaining and compelling fashion. Third Place: Michel Puffer, Harrison Connery, Republican-American, Waterbury, CT Second Place: Steve Pfarrer, Getting Beyond the Ugly- This series of stories bears Daily Hampshire Gazette, Northampton, MA witness to the legacy of one of New England's long- Extraordinary Paintings of Ordinary Gals- Good, time strengths - manufacturing - and how difficult it historical look at a woman painter who defied existing can be to unwind its decline in ways that benefit its mores and championed her own insights and feelings now down-on-their-luck population centers. in her painting. Daily Newspapers circulation less than 20,000 Third Place: Chris Bergeron, First Place: Erin Tiernan, The MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA Bergeron Harvard Beetles - Beetles? A surprisingly Squeezed out: Quincy building boom leaves families good read thanks to clear, clean writing, and historical behind- Perhaps the greatest impediment to economic perspective about a rich man's unusual hobby. justice in the expensive Northeast is the cost of housing, and this story captures the challenges facing 4 | P a g e NEW ENGLAND BETTER NEWSPAPER COMPETITION WINNERS, presented February 8, 2020 Quincy as it benefits from its proximity to Boston's Third Place: Jessica Bartlett, booming economy through a balanced and insightful Boston Business Journal, Boston, MA mix of personal reportage and quantitative back-up, Advocates say cannabis contracts with town amount while documenting Quincy's spotty record in helping to 'extortion'- Finally someone inspects the on-the- its less well-off citizens afford a decent place to live. ground process of a piece of legislation that has little precedent. Second Place: Mary Whitfill, The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA Weekly Newspapers circulation 6,000+ Net Loss: Scituate's vanishing fishing fleet- The fishing First Place: Chelsea Edgar, Seven Days, Burlington, VT industry has undergone seismic shifts over the last few Who Wants to Work on a Vermont Dairy Farm? A decades, and this two-story series captures the issues Reporter Spent a Week Finding Out- Wading through from both sides - the fishermen and the fish mongers the shock-value descriptions made this an interesting - while at the same time painting a personal picture of read, albeit one that really is more about process and the coming death of the fishing heritage of one operations than business per se. We get that this is a Massachusetts town. small operation, and it's fun to watch the gummed-up works. The immigration side gets short schrift, Third Place: Christopher Peak, especially lacking a side-by-side comparison with New Haven Independent, New Haven, CT other, similar operations vis-a-vis the cost-savings side Dicey Deals Kept English Station Dirty- An exhaustive of the equation. It's easier to describe when you examination of the dirty dealings surrounding the should be doing more digging. That said, however, the disposition of an ecological nightmare of a power writer has done considerable digging--literally and plant. The reporter dug and dug and comes up with a figuratively--to bring a microscope to everyday life at precautionary