New York Press Association

Heralds earn awards for journalism

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Herald Community Newspapers staff came home from their weekend in Saratoga Springs with 14 awards, earned in the New York Press Association’s 2014 Better Newspaper Contest.

The accolades included five first-place awards in a variety of categories. Awards were announced at NYPA’s annual Spring Convention held March 27-28 at the Gideon Putnam Hotel. More than a dozen Herald staffers took part in the convention.

The Herald won the Sharon R. Fullmer Award for Community Leadership, an honor it has received multiple times. This year’s award was for the Herald’s series on a heroin epidemic, which claimed three Calhoun High School graduates from December 2013 to January 2014.

The stories were intended to educate parents about the epidemic threatening young people, while informing them about large-scale events planned by a heroin task force established in the community.

Contributors to the series were Scott Brinton, Julie Mansmann, Michael Ganci and Casey Pinner. It is the only award that comes with a stipend to be used to donate to a community service project of the newspaper’s choice.

Stuart Richner, who publishes the nearly 20 weekly newspapers along with his brother, Clifford, said the awards recognize the hard work and dedication of his staff and he was particularly proud of the community leadership award. “That’s what we’re all about,” he said, “trying to make a difference in our communities. Those efforts have been recognized by our colleagues in the newspaper industry.”

“I’m proud of all our award winners and our entire team,” said publisher Clifford Richner. “Winning the community service award nine times in the last 15 years is really exceptional. What sports team wouldn’t envy a record like that? Of course, the real winners are our readers who are better informed as a result of all this good work.”

The Rockville Centre Herald won second place overall for advertising excellence.

The Bellmore Herald Life picked up first place for its Living on the Edge series in the In-depth Reporting category. That series of many parts ran in all the Heralds. Writers included Brinton, Laura Lane, Laura Schofer, Nathan Weiser and Emily Webb.

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