RiverheadLOCAL was honored with three awards for articles published in 2025 at the New York Press Association’s spring conference held in Saratoga Springs last week.
Denise Civiletti won a first-place award in the “Business, Financial and Economic News Story” category for her reporting on the avian flu outbreak that hit Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue in January 2025.
The award was for the first story she wrote about the devastating outbreak, “‘Bird flu’ outbreak shutters Long Island’s last duck farm, as culling of 99,000 birds is underway” (Jan. 22, 2025). “So much detail and nuance here on a
topic that could have been routine,” the judge said.
Maria del Mar Piedrabuena won a third-place award in the same category for her report on how fear in the local community stirred by ICE enforcement activities in other parts of the country impacted local businesses. Local businesses report downturn due to the climate of fear in Latino community (June 12, 2025).
Civiletti and reporter Alek Lewis teamed up on a historical series about the Vietnam War and the local community. The series kicked off with “Fifty years after the fall of Saigon: Riverhead and the Vietnam War” (April 30, 2025), which won the first-place award in the “Historical Story” category. The series continued with profiles of four local residents who fought in the war and one who fought against it.
The N.Y. Press Association’s 2025 Better Newspaper Contest was judged by members of the Michigan Press Association. One-hundred fifty newspapers submitted 2,732 entries, competing for awards in 67 categories, according to the press association.
Local newspapers covering Suffolk County had a strong showing, taking home numerous awards across many categories, including writer of the year (first place: Ambrose Clancy, The Shelter Island Reporter; second place: Michelle Trauring, Southampton Press – Eastern Edition), sports writer of the year (third place: Steven Zaitz, The Village Times Herald) and best column (first place: Tom Clavin, Southampton Press – Eastern Edition).
The Brooklyn-based Schneps Community News Group, publisher of 16 newspapers including Dan’s Papers, was the competition’s top newspaper group in total contest points. The Southampton-based Express News Group, publisher of The Sag Harbor Express and the Southampton Press, placed second. Straus News, publisher of The Chronicle (Goshen), The Photo News and Warwick Advertiser placed third. The North Shore News Group, publisher of the Northport Observer and the Smithtown News, placed fourth. The Setauket-based Times Beacon Record Newspapers, publishers of six weekly papers covering the north shore of the island from Huntington to Wading River, placed fifth.
The Rye Record and amNY shared the Newspaper of the Year honor for 2025.
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