RiverheadLOCAL took home five awards at the Press Club of Long Island’s 2025 Media Awards held last night at the Inn at Fox Hollow in Woodbury.
Reporter Alek Lewis won first place in the Government and Politics category for his reporting of “Busloads of migrants never came, but Riverhead’s emergency order may continue indefinitely” (Aug. 1, 2024).
The judge said, “Story didn’t stop with revelation about emergency order being renewed against migrants (that supervisor said “makes a statement.”) This report made a statement about how you cover such news, reaching out to critical voices while treating the subject fairly.”
Lewis and Denise Civiletti shared a first-place award in the Solutions Journalism category for RiverheadLOCAL’s coverage of the agri-tourism resorts issue last year. The entry consisted of six articles on the controversial plans for waterfront resorts in residential districts halted by community opposition.
The judge called the entries “watchdog journalism at its finest on ‘we don’t have any secrets’ development” and “showed how bulldog reporting can lead to the community biting back.”
Civiletti took first place in the History category for “Tin City: The story of Riverhead’s forgotten slums” (Feb. 29, 2024).
The judge said, “That the story is imperative for our time says it all, and readers will agree this is a gem of scholarship and personal history.”
“Tin City” also earned a second-place award in the Race and Diversity category.
The judge in that category called it a “remarkable story with a historical approach that is as relevant today as it was when these events happened.”
RiverheadLOCAL’s Dec. 14 editorial, “We’re gonna take Trump’s advice on this one” was honored with a third place award in the Editorial Commentary category.
The PCLI 2025 Media Awards contest was judged by the San Diego, California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
“It’s a real honor to be recognized by other journalists for our work,” RiverheadLOCAL Editor and Co-publisher Denise Civiletti said. “But the real reward comes from the response of the community to our work. We deeply appreciate all the support and encouragement. It’s at the heart of what motivates us day in and day out.”
“I’m so proud of Alek Lewis’ accomplishments as a reporter during his young career,” Civiletti said. “He joined RiverheadLOCAL directly out of Stony Brook University’s journalism program following his graduation in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, awarded Magna Cum Laude. He’s done great work and I know he’s got a long and illustrious journalism career ahead of him and I look forward to seeing where his professional journey takes him in the future.”
Tu Prensa Local, founded by the former editor of RiverheadLOCAL en Español, Maria Del Mar Piedrabuena, cleaned up in the contest’s Spanish Language Reporting Narrative, Radio and Video categories, sweeping the Narrative and Video reporting categories and taking first place in the Radio category.
“Congratulations to Tu Prensa Local’s Juliana Holguin for her continued stellar reporting and to Maria, the site’s founder and publisher. Both are committed to providing top-quality local news to the Spanish-speaking communities across the region, including in Riverhead Town, and in Riverside and Flanders,” Civiletti said. “We are in awe of the crucial coverage they provide to our Spanish-speaking neighbors and are thrilled to be able to partner with Juliana and Maria whenever the opportunity presents itself. They are both seasoned professionals who produce excellent work and it’s an honor to know them.”
The Shelter Island Reporter, a publication of Times-Review Media Group in Mattituck, shared the Robert W. Greene Public Service Award with The Express News Group of Southampton.
The Reporter was honored “for cementing its essential role in the Shelter Island community with a series of community forums to augment its services to islanders while at the same time facing the possibility that the newspaper could be sold or shuttered. Community support has enabled The Shelter Island Reporter to continue publishing in the face of economic headwinds that the print journalism knows all too well.”
The Express News Group was honored for “A College at Southampton: Past, Present and Future.”
“In addition to the in-depth three-part package that appeared in the Express News Group’s print editions and an editorial at the conclusion of the series, the effort culminated with a live Express Sessions panel discussion and a podcast.” The coverage and live event made a “palpable change in the public conversation about the future of the college campus. Stony Brook University sent a busload of administrators to the panel discussion live event to listen and came away impressed with the community’s interest in and affection for the campus.”
Unlike the rest of the awards, the Robert W. Greene Public Service Award is given by the PCLI Board of directors. [Editor’s note: Denise Civiletti is vice president of the PCLI board.]
Other East End media outlets once again were local news standouts in the PCLI’s annual contest. The San Diego Chapter judges made the following awards:
The Shelter Island Reporter’s Ambrose Clancy earned the much-deserved honor of being named Reporter of the Year.
Clancy also took first place in the Best Column category.
The Riverhead News-Review won first place in the Education Reporting category (narrative) for “Concerns raised over Juneteenth essay contest,” by Ana Burroto.
The Suffolk Times won first place in the Best Weekly Community Newspaper.
Northforker, Times-Review Media Group’s magazine won first-place awards in the Profile category for “Spirit in the Sound” by Stephanie Villani, Jeremy Garretson, Amy Zavatto and Lee Meyer and in the Food and Beverage category for “Beefed Up: On the North Fork, Small Farms Work to Make a Big Impact on the Meat We Eat,” by Amy Zavatto and Jeremy Garretson.
Northforker also won a third place award in the Neighborhood & Community News category for “The Secret Sauce” by Lee Meyer and Jeremy Garretson.
Southforker, also published by Times-Review Media Group, won two first place awards: Lifestyle Feature, “The Accidental Oysterman,” by Amy Zavatto and Eleanor P. Labrozzi; and Entertainment, “If These Walls Could Talk: How the Stephen Talkhouse Survived Nearly Four Decades – So Far – in the Live Music Industry,” by Nicholas Grasso.
The Express News Group, publishers of The Southampton Press, The East Hampton Press, The Sag Harbor Express and Express Magazine, took home the second place award in the Solutions Journalism category for “A Helping Hand: Nonprofits Detail Soaring Costs, and Demand,” by Julianne Mosher, J.D. Allen, Michelle Trauring, Cailin Riley, Joseph Shaw, Bill Sutton.
The Express News Group’s cartoonist Peter Walder won second place in the Cartoon category for his “Paw Print” feature.
The group also won a second place award in the Feature Photograph category for “Trail of Truth Riders Stand in Solidarity With Shinnecock Nation,” by Marianne Barnett.
It won a third place award in the Sports Photograph category for “Westhampton Senior Dives and Scores a Touchdown,” by Ron Esposito.
Express Magazine took third place in the Best Magazine category. And it won a second-place award for Dana Shaw’s Photo Essay, “Backstage at the Nutcracker.”
Dan’s Papers, a publication of Schnepps Media, won a first place award for Investigative reporting by Alec RIch for “Sand Wars: Has a State Agency Stacked The Deck to Protect Sand Mines?”
Dan’s Papers also won a first place award in the Race and Diversity category for “Shinnecock Voices,” by Margo Thunderbird, Charlotte Roe, Asia Cofield, Chenae Bullock.
Dan’s won second place in the Entertainment category for “Carolyn Iannone’s Love Lane Kitchen: What Happens When You Accidentally Buy a Restaurant,” by Maria Orlando Pietromonaco.
Christine Sampson took second place in the Education Reporting category for her piece “South Fork Schools Ahead of the ‘Regionalization’ Game,” published in The East Hampton Star.
Sampson also took home a second place award for Best Use of Newsletters for the East Hampton Star.
WLIW-FM of Southampton, won a first-place award in the Radio Arts and Entertainment category for “Studio 51” by Diane Masciale, Gianna Volpe, Brian Cosgrove, Brian Bannon, Kyle Lynch, Delaney Hafener, Brianna Coccia.
It also won a second-place award in the Best Radio News Station category.
The station took third-place honors for “Behind the Headlines,” a weekly radio show/podcast hosted by Joseph P. Shaw and Bill Sutton of the Express News Group, and regulars Denise Civiletti of RiverheadLOCAL, Beth Young of East End Beacon and Brian Cosgrove of WLIW.
Debbie Tuma won a second-place award in the Arts Category for “Painting Endangered Animals in Bali with Artist Kevin Berlin,” in The Montauk Sun.
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