RiverheadLOCAL was honored with four awards and a share of two other awards for work in collaboration with other East End news organizations in the Press Club of Long Island’s 2024 Media Awards contest. The awards were announced at the Press Club of Long Island’s media awards dinner and 50th anniversary celebration Thursday at the Inn at Fox Hollow in Woodbury.
The LOCAL team won a first-place trophy for editorial writing and second-place awards in the in-depth reporting, community news and website homepage design categories. It also earned a piece of a third-place award in the community news category for Spanish language reporting and a piece of a third-place award in the radio Government and Politics category for “Behind the Headlines,” a weekly radio talk show hosted by the Express News Group and aired on WLIW-FM.
The editorial that gained top honors was “It’s all about the children. Other than that, no comment” (Oct. 23, 2023) published after the abrupt departure of the district superintendent and the school’s top business official, which came without explanation and cost the district a contract buyout for the superintendent and two months of pay while the business official was reassigned to home, plus the cost of two interims who took their places at a combined $2,400 per diem rate. It has unfortunately been a recurring scenario in the district.
The judge said: “This well-crafted editorial combines solid information, deft writing – even a bit of humor – and well-placed outrage regarding secrecy and spending in the local school district. The editorial starts with a compelling lead and never lets up. The editorial is chock full of details to support its well-honed argument. But there is no hint of MEGO (My Eyes Glaze Over) for the reader, because the writers effectively mix short and long sentence structures to keep the pace moving. The result is an editorial that comes across as conversational and convincing instead of cumbersome or convoluted. The public is well-served by this forceful piece.”
The second-place award in the editorial category went to Newsday for “Full Speed on Santos Probe” and third place went to the Southampton Press for “Reversal of Fortunes.”
RiverheadLOCAL took home a second-place award in the narrative In-Depth Reporting category for “Audit reveals Riverhead IDA anticipates October closing with Calverton Aviation & Technology, for major boost to agency’s sagging bottom line” (April 6, 2023) which reported that the Riverhead IDA assuaged its auditors’ concerns about the agency’s fiscal condition by telling the auditors in early 2023 that it expected to close on the deal with Triple Five in October — entitling the agency to collect an administrative fee of $662,500 on its $245 million phase one project cost, according to the RIDA’s published fee schedule. In early 2023 the agency had not yet even begun to vet the application.
The judge said: “Numbers often can make readers’ eyes roll but this entry provided important background and context to big numbers — public money numbers. The persistence in staying with the story is evident — to the community’s benefit.”
First place in that category went to Newsday for “Feeling the Squeeze: The high cost of living crisis on LI” and third place also went to Newsday for “3 years after Thomas Valva’s murder, investigations into Suffolk child-welfare system yet to materialize.”
The LOCAL also took home a second-place award in the narrative Community News category for Denise Civiletti’s “Thanks to a chance meeting at iconic Main Street luncheonette, local Vietnam veteran connects with family of fallen Army buddy.” (Nov. 10, 2023)
Christine Sampson of the East Hampton Star won the first-place trophy in this category for “Chanegmakers” and third place went to Yaw Bonsu at the Long Island Advocate for “Sisterhood is a hop, skip and a jump away in Uniondale.”
RiverheadLOCAL’s Katie Morosky and Courtney Blasl won second-place honors in the Website Homepage Design category, in which Newsday took first place and the James Lane Post third.
The judge said of the RiverheadLOCAL homepage: “Good webpage with lots of updates and sense of community. Community calendar appreciated!”
RiverheadLOCAL Editor Denise Civiletti shared a third-place award with Maria del Mar Piedrabuena for “‘My dear Latinos, it is not going to be easy… but all we need is faith in ourselves.’ Salutatorian, child of immigrants, offers inspiration and encouragement” (June 24, 2023) in the narrative Spanish Language Reporting category, which Tu Prensa Local swept.
The contest this year offered 119 award categories for journalists to enter in radio, television, narrative (written word), photography, video, illustration, design and use of social media. The contest was judged by the Ohio Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the SPJ Region 10 Chapter, which covers the Northwest region. In addition, the contest included a competition for college and high school student journalists.
The Press Club of Long Island is the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and is devoted to protecting and advocating for First Amendment rights, furthering ethical standards and providing ongoing training for its members.
Veteran journalist Karl Grossman of Sag Harbor, one of the founders of the organization in 1974 and the first club president, spoke about the club’s history to the 250 guests at the dinner.
“My impetus for thinking about starting a press club for Long Island came in 1974, sitting in the office of the late daily the Long Island Press, reading a story about a reporter being jailed for refusing to reveal a source,” Grossman recalled. “This is the kind of thing, I thought, that journalists really have to get together on — to support a reporter in trouble.”
He conferred with the chief of the Long Island Press’ Suffolk bureau and the director of university relations at the State University at Stony Brook, and they put out a call for an organizational meeting. About 50 people showed up for the meeting at the Three Village Inn in Stony Brook, Grossman recalled, and he was elected the club’s first president.
“Considering the challenges to a free press — in some ways more intense in recent years with the expanding consolidation and monopolization of media and control by corporations that should be intensely watch-dogged by the press , not own it, and corporate and government manipulation — I believe a press organization that stands up for journalists and a free press in trouble should be a prime concern.”
The club on Thursday honored four journalists with induction into the Long Island Journalism Hall of Fame: Jack Graves, Jim Klurfeld, Jennifer McLogan and (posthumously) Pat Cowles.
It also honored Newsday (large market) and Anton Media Group (small market) with the Bob Greene Public Service Award and Nicole Wagner of Herald Community Newspapers with the James Murphy Cub Reporter of the Year.
Newsday photojournalist Randee Daddona of Southold won the first-place award in the Best Photojournalist-Video category. She also won a share of five other awards for her photos and videos.
Local resident Lisa Finn of Patch won the first-place award in the narrative Entertainment category for “’You Should Be Here’: ‘The Voice’ Winner Writes Song For Scout Killed” about a song written and performed by Carter Rubin, winner of “The Voice” in 2020, in memory of Andrew McMorris of Wading River, age 12, who was struck and killed by a drunk driver while hiking with his Boy Scout troop in 2018.
Southampton Press won the first-place award in the Best Community Weekly Newspaper category, with Roslyn Times and Manhasset Times taking second and third place, respectively.
The Express News Group, which publishes the Southampton Press, also won honors in the Column category, Carlos Sandoval (first place), Podcast category for “27 Speaks” (second place), narrative Reporter of the Year, Michael Wright (second place), narrative Sports Feature story, Caitlin Reilly/Express Magazine (second place), Editorial, Southampton Press (third place) and Best Magazine category for Express Magazine (third place).
Tu Prensa Local took home six awards: first- and second-place awards for video Spanish Language Reporting; first-, second- and third-place awards in the narrative Spanish Language Reporting category; and it shared a first-place award with WSHU for Radio in the Environment category.
Times Review Media Group won five awards in the contest. Northforker magazine won two first-place awards: one in the narrative Food and Beverage category and another in the narrative Arts category. Southforker magazine won a third-place award in the Food and Beverage category.
The Riverhead News-Review won a third-place award in the narrative Crime and Justice category for reporting on the shooting death of Calverton teen Preston Gamble.
East Hampton Star won three awards: narrative Community News category (first place), Christine Sampson ; narrative Entertainment category (second place), Christine Sampson; and Reporter of the Year (first place), Christine Sampson.
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