The New York Times and Newsday
Win Top Honors In The 77th Annual
Excellence In Journalism Awards

Fortune Magazine, ESPN, WABC-TV, Type Investigations, THE CITY, WINS 1010 Radio, The New Yorker, Gothamist/WNYC, The Record/northjersey.com, News 12 Network, City Limits, USA Today Network, Foreign Policy Magazine And CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Also Win Awards

A powerful 18-month long investigation by Newsday into policing on Long Island that uncovered abusive treatment of detainees by law enforcement and discrimination against black applicants for police jobs and an incisive New York Times series that reported how the pandemic has devastated the New York City economy were both awarded the President’s Choice Medallion, the top prize in the Silurian Press Club’s 77th annual Excellence in Journalism Awards. 

The Times led this year’s winners with six first place Medallions winning the President’s Choice Award and awards for Breaking News Reporting, Investigative Reporting, Arts and Culture Reporting, Editorials, Commentary and Public Service, People Profiles and Feature Photography. Newsday was close behind with five winning Medallions, capturing the President’s Choice Award, and awards for Business and Financial Reporting , Breaking News Photography, Sports Photography and TV Feature News.

But far smaller and younger news outlets performed nimbly in the Silurians contest as well. Type Investigations, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to independent investigative journalism, won two Medallions, one for Feature News Reporting, the other for Science and Health Reporting. THE CITY, another  online nonprofit news site, won the Medallion for Minority Affairs Reporting. In the remaining categories, Fortune magazine won for Environmental Reporting, ESPN for Sports Reporting and Commentary,WABC-TV for TV Breaking News and 1010 WINS Radio for Radio Breaking News.

Runners-up in each of the prize categories were honored with Merit awards. The Times won five, Newsday and THE CITY won three each and Streetblogs NYC, a nonprofit news website, won two.  The New Yorker, The Record/northjersey.com, Type Investigations, Gothamist/WNYC, Foreign Policy,  CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, the USA Today network,  City Limits and the News 12 Network each won a Merit award.

The Medallion and Merit awards will be presented at a dinner Wednesday, June 15 at the National Arts Club in Manhattan. Silurian Press Club president Michael Serrill announced that for the first time since 2019, when the Covid-19 pandemic emerged, the awards ceremony would be held live in-person rather than streamed virtually by Zoom. 

The Silurians Press Club, established in 1924 as The Society of the Silurians, is an organization of more than 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.  

    The full list of Medallion winners and Merit Award winners follows:

President’s Choice Awards
Medallion: “The Future of the New York City Economy”
By Nicole Hong, Matthew Haag and Patrick McGeehan
The New York Times
Medallion: “Policing Long Island”
By James Baumbach, Paul LaRocca, Sandra Peddie, David Schwartz and Jeffrey Basinger
Newsday

Breaking News Reporting
Medallion: Coverage of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Resignation
By Metro Staff Reporters            
The New York Times 
Merit: “Coverage of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Resignation”
By Staff Reporters                   
THE CITY

Feature News Reporting
Medallion: “Bridging the Divide Between the Police and the Policed” 
By Saki Knafo
Type Investigations (With The New Yorker)
Merit:  “Pandemic Worsens Hard Road to Housing for Homeless New Yorkers With Health Needs” 
By David Brand 
City Limits   

Investigative Reporting
Medallion:  “Profiting Off the Homeless”
By Amy Julia Harris          
The New York Times
Merit: “Ignored, Dismissed.”
By Jesse Coburn   
Streetsblog NYC

Business and Financial Reporting
Medallion: “Fraud Costing Billions”
By James T. Madore
Newsday                    
Merit: “The Precarious Financial Situations of New Jersey’s Colleges and Universities”
By Jean Rimbach, Albert Koloff and Scott Fallon
The Record/northjersey.com                                                                      
Merit: “The Dangers of Working While Black on Wall Street”
By Susan Antilla
Type Investigations      (With The Nation)

Science & Health Reporting
Medallion: “Low Pay, Loneliness and a Booming Industry”
By Liz Donovan and Muriel Alarcón         
Type Investigations  (With The New York Times and The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism)
Merit: “Back Inside the Red Zone”
By Faith Jessie, Reporter;                
with Alejandra Villa Loarca, Photographer; Jeffrey Basinger, Video Editor; Newsday

Environmental Reporting 
Medallion: “Nuclear Drawdown”
By Jeffrey Rothfeder and Christopher Maag 
Fortune    
Merit: “Can the Nation Solve its Nuclear Waste Problem?”
By Adrian Hedden and Thomas C. Zambito      
The USA Today Network / Westchester Rockland Journal-News/lohud.com
Merit:  “Why One Queens Block Has Flooded for Decades”
By Elizabeth Kim   
Gothamist and WNYC Radio

Arts & Culture Reporting
Medallion: “The Road Back To Broadway” 
By Michael Paulson               
The New York Times
Merit:  “Josephine Baker: First American to Enter France’s Pantheon” 
By J. Alex Tarquinio       
Foreign Policy
Merit: “The Challenge of Making an Archive of the Climate Crisis” 
By Sophie Haigney    
The New Yorker

Sports Reporting & Commentary
Medallion: “A Handshake from a White Teammate Signaled Jackie Robinson’s Arrival in America’s Game”
By William Weinbaum   
ESPN (Undefeated, an ESPN media platform )
Merit : “Defying A Shock To The System”
By Amanda M. Fairbanks   
The New York Times
Merit : “Kevin Durant and (Possibly) the Greatest Basketball Team of All Time,”
By Sam Anderson  
The New York Times Magazine

Editorials, Commentary & Public Service
Medallion: “Dysfunction at Rikers Island”
By Jan Ransom and Jonah Bromwich          
The New York Times
Merit: “The Toll of the NYC Housing Authority’s Lead Lies”
By Greg B. Smith                 
THE CITY

People Profiles
Medallion: “He Bombed the Nazis, Outwitted the Soviets and Modernized Christmas” 
Laurie Gwen Shapiro      
The New York Times
Merit: “Lives of New York”
Alex Vadukul
The New York Times 
Merit: “The Ultimate Obit: The Real Unabridged Authorized Warts-and-All Saga of Brooklyn Trolley King Bob Diamond”
By Simi Horwitz      
Streetsblog NYC

Minority Affairs Reporting
Medallion: “No Fair Shot at Vaccinations”
By Josefa Velazquez, Ann Choi, Will Welch and Claudia Irizarry Aponte
THE CITY        
Merit: “On the Waterfront”
By Student Reporters of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY
New York City News Service at CUNY                 

Breaking News Photography
Medallion:   “A Father and Son Reunion”     
Steve Pfost  
Newsday   
Merit :  “A Hero’s Farewell”
J. Conrad Williams, Jr.  
Newsday

Feature News Photography
Medallion :  “It’s Not Enough: Living Through a Pandemic on $100 a Week.” 
Desiree Rios   
The New York Times Magazine
Merit: “N.Y.C. Wakes Up”
15 Freelance  Photographers                  
The New York Times Magazine
Merit: “These 115 Workers Helped Keep New York Alive During Its Darkest Months”
Photos By Todd Heisler / Text by David Gonzalez 
The New York Times Magazine

Sports Photography
Medallion: “Using His Head”
Thomas A. Ferrara   
Newsday
Merit:  “Wave Runners”
J. Conrad Williams, Jr. 
Newsday

TV Breaking News
Medallion: “The Cuomo Resignation”
WABC-TV Eyewitness News Team  
WABC-TV News

TV Feature News
Medallion: “He’s going to kill me” – Jo‘Anna Bird’s Story
Newsday Video Documentary and News Staffs. 
Producer, Writer, Reporter: Pat Dolan; Investigative Reporter, Producer: Sandra Peddie; Producers: Robert Cassidy, John Keating. Reporter: Jim Baumbach. Anchor: Faith Jessie. 
Newsday
Merit: “Justice Denied”
Walt Kane / Karin Attonito/ Anthony Coco  
News 12 Networks

Radio Breaking News
Medallion: “Coverage of Storm Ida”   
WINS 1010 Radio Broadcast and Reporting Staff
Anchors: Lane Bajardi, Sonia Rincon Editors: Beth Reardon, Jim Maloney, Sara Mille Reporter: Carol D’Auria Producer: Matt Blezow, Dempsey Pillot.
WINS 1010 Radio