78th Annual Excellence in Journalism Awards
78th Annual Excellence in Journalism Awards
By Jack Deacy,
Awards Chair
A moving investigative piece by Dan Barry and Karen Zraick of The New York Times that examined the lives and deaths of three non-union construction workers killed at a troubled project in the Bronx has won the President’s Choice Medallion, the top prize .
The Times also led this year’s winners, capturing six additional Medallions in Breaking News Reporting, Feature News Reporting, Health and Science Reporting, Environmental Reporting, Arts and Culture Reporting and in the Editorials, Commentary and Public Service category. Newsday was close behind, winning five Medallions, in Minority Affairs Reporting, Breaking News Photography, Sports Photography, Sports Reporting and Commentary, and in the Editorials, Commentary and Public Service category.
But far smaller and younger news outlets performed successfully in the Silurians competition as well. Insider, an online business news site, took home two Medallions, one for Environmental Reporting and the other for Feature News Photography.
THE CITY, another online non-profit news site, won the Medallion for Business and Financial Reporting and Streetsblog NYC captured the Medallion for Investigative Reporting.
In the remaining categories, New York Magazine and ProPublica teamed up to win the Medallion for People Profiles, The Record/northjersey.com won one of the two Medallions awarded in Health and Science Reporting.
WABC Eyewitness News won for Television Breaking News Reporting and News 12 New Jersey won for Television Feature News Reporting.
Runners up in each of the prize categories were honored with Merit Awards.The Times won six Merits, Newsday won three, and both the non-profit City Limits and Streetsblog NYC took home two. And each of the following media outlets captured a Merit: The Gothamist, The Record/north Jersey.com, Fortune, NBC New York and the New York City News Service at the Craig B. Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
The Medallion and Merit awards were presented at a Silurians Press Club dinner on Wednesday evening, June 21, at the National Arts Club in Manhattan.
The Silurians Press Club, established in 1924 as The Society of the Silurians, is an organization of some 300 veteran and retired New York journalists. Early members included William Randolph Hearst, Lincoln Steffens and Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck. In addition to sponsoring the Excellence In Journalism awards annually since 1945, the Silurians host monthly luncheons featuring prominent speakers and also provide educational grants for local journalism students and relief for journalists in financial trouble.
