The staff won first, second or third place in several categories, including coverage of local government, coverage of education, obituary writing, sports writing, front pages, in-depth reporting, humor columns, photography, special-section advertising and advertising design.
³These awards prove once again that you don¹t have to be a big daily newspaper to do excellent work in making important contributions to your community,² said Cliff Richner, co-publisher of the Herald. ³I was very impressed with Scott Brinton and the staff¹s work on our extensive in-depth series on sex crimes in our communities, and I¹m delighted that Scott also won the Writer of the Year award, which he certainly deserves.²
Out-of-state judges examined 4,052 entries from 242 newspapers from all around New York, from Suffolk to Syracuse, from the Bronx to Buffalo.
First-place honors were awarded to Herald columnist Randi Kreiss for Best Humor Column, to Brinton and the Herald staff for In-Depth Reporting, to Brinton for a sports feature he wrote, to Brian Dessart for his sports column, and to the advertising staff for Best Special Section Advertising for its How-To Guide.
³I want to make special mention of Randi Kreiss's award for best humor column,² Richner said. ³This adds to a long string of best column awards for Randi stretching back some 25 years. Year in and year out, her writing never fails to provoke strong reader response ‹ pro and con ‹ which is what a good columnist should do. She makes you think.²
Other awards
³I try to stay on top of the important local issues in the Five Towns by making as many good contacts as I can,² said Nassau Herald reporter Andrew Coen, who was thrilled that his paper earned an award for coverage of local government. Among the stories included in the Nassau Herald¹s submission were Coen¹s reporting on the county¹s audit of Sanitation District 1 and his coverage of Lawrence¹s decision last September to prohibit construction of high-water-use projects.
Franklin Square/Elmont Herald editor Brian Zanzonico¹s coverage of the death ‹ and life ‹ of New York City police officer and Elmont resident Dillon Stewart earned Zanzonico an award in the Best Obituaries category.
³Winning awards is always gratifying and encouraging, and it¹s my good fortune to work with such talented and dedicated people,² said John O¹Connell, the Herald¹s executive editor. ³I congratulate them, and frankly I congratulate the entire staff for the work they do every single week in bringing readers news and in telling people¹s stories in the communities we live and work in. This work is in many ways a calling, and I think readers are better for the work this staff does.²
Senior Editor Brinton was honored with third place in the prestigious Writer of the Year category. ³Scott is a compelling writer, regardless of topic,² the judge wrote. ³His writing draws me in, and made me want to read everything he wrote, which of course, I did.²
Rhonda Glickman, the Herald¹s vice president of sales, said she was happy the staff¹s work was recognized. ³The award for the How-To Guide was great to win because it was such a group effort,² Glickman said. ³The other advertising awards, we felt the ads were good the moment [Production Manager] Jeff Negrin created them, but it¹s so special to see the judges thought so too.²
³The best weekly newspapers bring readers important community information,² said Stuart Richner, co-publisher of the Herald chain of 15 community newspapers, ³written and packaged to serve readers¹ needs well, and to let them know about the products and services of the business and professional community through attractive, informative ads.
³I¹m proud that the press association recognized our staff¹s work in both editorial and advertising, and I¹m proud of the staff of the rest of the company that supports the whole effort,² Richner added. ³Our readers deserve to get a valuable product, and these awards indicate that we¹re giving them that every week.²
